Bahrain Transparency Society: Developing Legislations to Combat Corruption

On 15th of April 2009, the Transparency Society welcomed Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s announcement on 9 April 2009, in which he stressed the need to develop legislations in order to combat all forms of corruption and bribery. He also called for the criminalization of mishandling of shareholders’ money and providing the necessary legislations to guarantee their rights. An agreement has been reached on presenting an amendment to the Penal Code to the Council of Ministers regarding the addition of a new chapter entitled ‘Bribery and Embezzlement in the Private Sector’ and the consolidation of the values of transparency and equal opportunities. The Society also suggested passing a new law to combat and criminalize administrative and financial corruption, and said that it contributed to the bills of the National Committee for Combating Corruption such as the ones for combating corruption, the freedom to access information and liabilities law, stressing the need of passing and promoting these laws. The Society also called for strengthening the authority of the Financial Monitoring Agency, the independence of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor so that they can perform their required roles in conducting any investigation, pursuing those accused of corruption and putting them on trial.