A business owner has lost his third and final appeal at Bahrain’s highest court against a BD1,000 fine for running a car scrapyard on an expired commercial registration (CR).
The Cassation Court ruled to uphold the penalty, originally issued by the Public Prosecution without a criminal trial, which the defendant appealed in three different courts.
In March last year (2024), the prosecution charged and convicted the Bahraini man of practising a commercial activity without a permit from the relevant authority, and without having an official licence to do so.
He reportedly traded in scrap vehicles, as part of his scrapyard located in Mazrowiah in the Southern Governorate. He also ran a now-defunct spare parts business which was operated alongside the scrapyard.
The man took to the Lower Criminal Court in June last year to appeal the ruling.
Judges ruled to overturn the penalty, but ruled to fine him BD1,000 all the same – the only difference between the two rulings was that the authority that issued it was different.
The businessman, whose main CR was registered for the first time in 1976, and remains operational to this day then took to the High Criminal Appeals Court for a second attempt at getting the ruling overturned.
In July last year, judges once again upheld the ruling so the man and his defence sought a final appeal at Bahrain’s highest court.
“The case against the appellant did mention the full circumstances of what had happened, and no proof of criminal intent was presented,” the defence read.
“The appellant is a well-intentioned individual, who was not aware of the law that was being broken. He also did not know that his CR had expired, as he was not informed of it.
“The court has simply parroted the Public Prosecution’s accusations, instead of making its own judgement.”
Although the penalty was a simple fine, the defence still asked the court for an alternate penalty, arguing that the appellant had ‘never committed a crime before’.
The Cassation Court responded that the evidence used to convict the man was his own testimony, and letters from the Industry and Commerce Ministry, in which the CR law violations were specified.
“The proof presented is sufficient, and satisfied the criteria of a criminal conviction,” read the court’s verdict.
“It is enough to prove that the offending actions were committed for the verdict to be sound.
“The court has scrutinised the events of the case well enough to have a firm idea of what occurred.
“The claims that he was unaware he was committing a crime do not have an effect on his guilt, and seems to be an excuse by the appellant.”
The scrapyard’s records on the national CR portal, Sijilat, show that the same CR had six branches over the years.
Two branches remain active to this day – one car garage and another company that offers construction and excavation services.
Business that are no longer functional include a car rental service, a cold store and a spare parts business.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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