The Shura Council decides to hold an extraordinary session next Wednesday. The Shura Council congratulates the wise leadership on the advent of the Holy Eid al-Adha and signs a communiqué on confrontation of violence against woman in collaboration with the UN Development Office
Qudaybiah: Shura Council
During its 8th weekly session held this Monday morning under the chairman ship of His Excellency Mr. Ali Saleh Al-Saleh, Speaker of the Council, the Shura Council expressed its highest congratulations and blessings on the occasion of the Hajj season and the advent of the holy Eid Al-Adha to His Majesty Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Amir Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Amir Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander, to the people of Bahrain and the Arab and Islamic nations, praying to God to return this blessed occasion to the wise leadership, the people of Bahrain and the Arab and Islamic nation with blessings and happiness and accept their Hajj and supplications.
The Shura Council also applauded the great efforts exerted by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdulla bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, in the service of the guests of God to perform the hajj rituals with ease and comfort.
The Council initiated its session with ratification of the agenda of the seventh session, after which His Excellency Mr. Abdul Jallil Ebrahim Al-Turaif, Secretary General of the Shura Council the statement issued by the Shura Council in celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which coincides with the 25th day of November. This gesture came within the Council’s constant and solicitous care of the Bahraini woman and her affairs for being an effective participant in the development process witnessed by the Kingdom and as a confirmation of its determination to eliminate all forms of violence, especially the violence directed the family’s security and stability.
The Shura Council reasserted its unwavering and ongoing support for the Bahraini woman for elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination, and applauded the care extended to and the rights the Bahraini woman has earned thanks to the initiatives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which is reflected in the flourishing realities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, all in recognition of the great role played by the Bahraini woman in all fields.
The Shura Council lauded in its statement the great role played by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabikha bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the King’s wife and President of the Supreme Council for Woman, through Her Highness’s support for the Bahraini woman in the community. The Council reasserted that it will spare no effort in the promotion of the Bahraini woman through enactment of more draft laws and proposal in favor of women which will create an amenable environment for sustaining the march of her achievements and consolidation of her position for realization of the total and comprehensive development.
The Shura Council added in its statement “while we applaud the role of Bahraini woman on whom the law has bestowed an important role in the development process and empowered her to have her freedom and enjoy all her rights thanks to the care and attention paid by the wise leadership, in addition to earning freedom and equality, two values that many women in the world are still fighting for, we wish to reassert the Council’s role to pay due attention to the legislations, agreements and conventions for elimination of violence against women, and which are conducive to protecting the woman’s rights and preserving her dignity”. The Council applauded in this regard the attention paid by all members of the Council, and especially the woman and child committee, for the development and promotion of effective legislations and enactment of new legislations in the best interest of the woman and protection of her rights.
His Excellency the Speaker and Members of the Council signed a poster on elimination of all forms of violence against women in the presence of the legal representative of the UN Development Office, Mr. Agha and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Woman, Ms. Lulwa Al-Awadhi.
On her part, Her Excellency Member Dalal Jasim Al-Zayed, Chairperson of the Woman and Child Affairs Committee, expressed her thanks to His Excellency the Speaker of the Council for his support and backing for the Council’s participation in the international office being led by the UN Development Office for elimination of violence against women, drawing attention to the fact that Bahrain has demonstrated through several initiatives, including the formation of Bahraini Men Network for the Elimination of Violence against Women, its commitment to the agreements which discuss the status of woman and preserve her dignity.
The Shura Council also issued a statement on the occasion of the world’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Child’s Rights Day and issuance of the Child’s Rights Agreement which was approved by the United Nations on 20 November 1989. The Council regarded this occasion an opportunity for contemplating the future of children and the achievements made in actual reality, confirming in this regard the importance of joint work between the State and the organizations combined to consolidate the children’s rights, planting rules of proper behavior, preservation of the child’s affiliation and coordination of efforts for promotion of the children’s rights in the Kingdom.
While recalling the importance of considering the child’s higher interest as the foundation for all policies and arrangements related to the child and the close association between the totality of human rights, the need to take into consideration the international essence of the rights and their indivisibility, the Council applauded the efforts of the United Nations and the international and national nongovernmental organizations which aim at enabling the children to enjoy the human rights without any exploitation and discrimination. The Council applauded at the same time the pioneering role of the Council’s Woman and Child Affairs Committee which assumed the responsibility for the review and scrutiny of all laws for compatibility with the International Declaration of the Child’s rights and the related international agreements and conventions.
Then, the Council was informed of the receipt of a number of messages from His Excellency Mr. Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Dhahrani, Speaker of House of Representatives, regarding the conclusions reached by House of Representatives in connection with the decision of the Shura Council on the draft law for improvement of the service in government agencies (prepared in line with a proposed draft law submitted by House of Representatives), and the conclusions reached by House of Representatives regarding a draft law for endorsement of the basic law of the GCC criminal information center for Narcotics Control, attached to Royal Decree No.62 for the year 2009, and the conclusion reached by House of Representatives on the draft law on guaranteeing the right to obtain information (prepared in line with a proposed draft law submitted by House of Representatives).
The Council was also informed of the message of His Excellency Mr. Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Dhahrani, Speaker of House of Representatives, regarding the conclusions reached by House of Representatives regarding a draft law for ratification of the GCC Monetary Union Agreement and the Basic Law of the Monetary Union of the Member States, attached to Royal Decree No.54 for the year 2009, as well as the conclusion reached by House of Representatives on the draft law regarding engagement of the GCC citizens in the retail and wholesale business in the Kingdom of Bahrain, attached to Royal Decree No.75 for the year 2009.
The Council postponed the item regarding the questions posed to His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs due to His Excellency’s apology for not being able to attend the session.
Then, the final decision for approval of a draft law for amendment of article 4 of law by decree No.2 for the year 1994, on urban planning was taken.
Their Excellencies the Members of the Council continued discussion of the supplementary report of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee on a draft law for amendment of article 393 of the Penal Code, promulgated by Legislative Decree No.15 for the year 1976, which aims for stricter punishment for issuing a check in bad faith with no possible payment.
His Excellency the Speaker of the Council presented the amendment of the draft law made by Their Excellencies Rabab Abdul Nabi Al-Arayyed and Dalal Jasim Al-Zayed and Fouad Ahmad Al-Haji, intended to incorporate the right to reconciliation as part of the draft law and ensuring representation of the persons accused outside the Kingdom. Because the Council did not approve of discussion of the proposal, the Council continued consideration of the draft law.
Their Excellencies the Members raised several inquiries related to the possible application of the draft law as drafted and the judge’s jurisdiction to apply the penalty. The Council heard the response of the representatives of eh Ministry of Interior to these inquiries and reached a decision to approve the draft law as amended by the committee, subject to the condition that the final opinion be taken in the upcoming session of the Council.
Then, the Council moved on to discuss the report of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee on the draft law for addition of a new article under No.34, repeated, to the Civil Service Law, promulgated by law No.35 for the year 2006 (prepared in line with a proposed draft law submitted by the House of Representatives).
His Excellency Member Habib Makki Hashim, the Committee Rapporteur, presented the bases on which the Committee relied in making the recommendation to reject the draft law, on the grounds that the conclusions reached by the House of Representatives to introduce partial amendments in the law without consideration of the remaining articles of the effective law and its implementation rules will create a sort of conflict and duplication. Also, the incentive system applicable in accordance with the Civil Service Law provides for incentive allowance and rewards to uplift the moral of the employees and urges them to excellence and discipline which accompany the quality of production, which as stated in the memorandum of the Civil Service Bureau are as follows: “The incentive allowance, the special work reward, the pubic work reward, the discipline reward, a letter of appreciation, suggestions rewards, service award, end of service award, the 3 % annual increase, in addition to the promotion system). In addition to that the implementation rules of the Civil Service Law detail this issue in some 20 articles.
The Committee also noted in its report that the existing fault occurs because of power application of the applicable law, lack of clarity and accuracy of the employees’ annual performance reports, besides the lack of accuracy and clarity of the standards and criteria established for the rewards and incentives in the Civil Service which means the need to activate the surveillance mechanism and the need to draw up sound bases for selection of the employees to whom the criteria apply in order to encourage and reward them, coupled with avoidance of selectivity and cronyism. The committee underscored the importance of engaging the watchdog role of the legislative authority in this regard without resorting to amendment of the laws in a way that would adversely affect the laws in force.
The Committee expressed its concurrence with the opinion of the Civil Service Bureau regarding the financial cost which must be appropriated for application of the language of the draft law, which was confirmed by the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives and the requirement that an application must be filed for opening an additional appropriation annually to apply the draft law if approved.
On their part, Their Excellencies the Members of the Council raised several remarks during their exhaustive discussion of the Committee report and the objectives of the draft law, after which the Committee’s recommendation to reject the draft law was approved, on the condition that the final opinion be taken thereon during the upcoming session of the Council.
Their Excellencies the Members also approved the recommendation of the Services Committee to stick to the Shura Council’s decision to reject two draft laws, one for addition of article under No.7, repeated, to law No.13 for the year 1975, on the organization of government employee retirement pensions and rewards, and the second for addition of an article under No.34, repeated, to the Social Insurance Law promulgated by Legislative Decree No.24 for the year 1976, prepared in the light of a proposed draft law submitted by the House of Representatives, whereby both draft laws provide for addition of lengthy and free hypothetical subscription periods to the service of the employee who works in one of the hazardous or health damaging positions, on the assumption that the employers assume the cost of the hypothetical subscription period, on the condition that the final opinion thereon be taken in the upcoming session of the Council.
The Council continued to listen to the comments and remarks of Their Excellencies the members on the report of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Parliamentarian Section delegation which participated in the Second Conference of the Arab Parliamentarians on Childhood, which was held in Cairo, the Arab Republic of Egypt, during the period from 21 to 23 June 2009 and the report of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Parliamentarian Section delegation which participated in meeting of the Executive Council of the Asian Parliaments Society which was held in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia, during the period 11 to 12 August 2009.
Where the new business item is concerned, The Speaker of the Council proposed convening an extraordinary session next Wednesday to discuss a number of draft laws currently being reviewed by the Council’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee after being referred to it by the House of Representatives, on the basis of the Council’s keen desire to refer them to the government on an urgent basis for necessary action due to their importance, namely the draft law on ratification of the GCC Monetary Union Agreement and the Basic Law of the Monetary Council of the GCC Member States, attached to Royal Decree Nol54 for the year 2009, and the draft law on engagement of the GCC citizens in the retail and wholesale business in the Kingdom of Bahrain, attached to Royal Decree No.75 for the year 2008.