Legislators are preparing to discuss a new law that would change how lawyers work, with tighter rules, clearer career steps and stronger checks on professional conduct.
The proposed framework seeks to raise standards among lawyers while reinforcing confidence in the kingdom’s legal and judicial system as part of efforts to enhance the investment environment.
The legislative and legal affairs committee said the Supreme Judicial Council raised no objections to the draft law with 68 articles, while the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry said the provisions are aligned with modern comparative legislation, particularly in the UAE and Oman.
The ministry said that from 2022 to 2025, 834 cases were recorded against lawyers, with the lowest being 129 last year.
The draft introduces mandatory professional insurance for lawyers – similar to requirements in engineering professions – to protect clients from professional errors.
It also requires every law office to operate a dedicated professional bank account, separate from personal accounts, in line with anti-money laundering rules and under future regulations co-ordinated with the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Another major reform addresses a long-standing practical issue: lawyers who renew their registration for years without actually practising, merely to accumulate seniority for promotion to higher court registers.
Under Article 15, practising lawyers may be required to prove actual work over the previous two years – such as pleadings and submissions they handled. Failure to do so allows the minister to transfer them to the non-practising register unless they present a valid excuse.
Those seeking to return to practice after five years or more on the non-practising list must re-sit the bar admission exam to prove continued competence – unless they worked during that period as judges, prosecutors, legal advisers, law professors or senior legal officials.
The draft tightens regulation of trainee lawyers. They must complete two years of practical training at offices licensed before the High Civil Court of Appeal, complete a formal training course and pass a second exam before being admitted to the practising register.
If a trainee cannot secure a placement, the law broadens eligible training offices and references support initiatives such as on-the-job training in co-operation with Tamkeen.
Meanwhile, Articles 24 and 25 introduce a controlled gateway for foreign legal expertise.
Non-Bahraini lawyers may be allowed to practise in specific cases, provided they work jointly with a Bahraini lawyer licensed before the Cassation and Constitutional Courts. Their participation would be restricted mainly to specialised commercial cases and would exclude criminal, administrative and Sharia matters, subject to reciprocity and international agreements.
Foreign legal consultancy firms already licensed in Bahrain may also be permitted to appear in arbitration and court cases only when foreign law applies, again jointly with a Bahraini lawyer.
The ministry noted this model already exists in Bahrain’s dispute resolution framework.
The draft formally allows contingency fees – where a lawyer takes a percentage of the awarded amount instead of upfront payment – capped at 25 per cent. Lawyers cannot combine a percentage with a lump sum.
This, the ministry said, helps clients who cannot afford upfront fees while preventing exploitation.
The law tightens rules on professional ethics, stressing that lawyers are ‘partners in achieving justice’. It prohibits misleading courts, wasting judicial time or discussing case details in media or on social platforms in ways that harm litigants.
Disclosure of information remains prohibited except where required to prevent crimes, or where other laws (such as anti-terror and AML laws) mandate disclosure.
Lawyers who fail to pay disciplinary fines may be referred again to the disciplinary board and could be barred from renewing their registration. Penalties range from written warnings to removal from the register, governed by principles of legality, proportionality and personal responsibility, and subject to appeal before an appellate disciplinary board in line with precedents of the Cassation Court.
Committee chairman MP Mahmood Fardan said the draft marks one of the most significant overhauls of the legal profession’s regulatory framework in decades – designed not only to protect clients and courts, but to elevate Bahrain’s legal services to match the demands of a modern investment-driven economy.
Mahmood Fardan
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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