Page 313 - Records of Bahrain (5) (ii)_Neat

Legal and judicial affairs 633

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of olaims, estate
oases, bankruptcy cases, land
disputes, fish trup cases, diving oases, water
rights as well as criminal cases of every descrip­
tion. DuringjtJio last thirteen years there have

been great changes in Bahrain and life has beoome
more oomplioated owing to the growing needs of the
people, disputes are no longer settled by private
arbitration and the courts are resorted to on the
least provocation* In the past the administration
of justice by the Khalifah magistrates by oommonsense
methods satisfied the public* The methods and the

typo of justioe which is meted out are still the same,
but the people themselves have changed. While the
present magistrates are not less experienced than
their predecessors the public standard of education
and general knowledge has improved The Bahrain
courts ure compared to the oourts in India and Iraq,

obviously the Bahrain courts suffer by this comparison*
Although there are oauses for complaints about the
competency of the Bahrain courts the abuse which has
been aimed at them lately is not entirely justified.
Each of the leaders of the present agitation who are
now in custody, have particular reasons for resenting
the magistrates, Ali bin Khalifah the chief agitator,
has a long criminal record and was convicted in the
Bahrain court for misappropriation of wakf property,

he was also dismissed from his former position us
municipal secretary owing to his anti-government
activities* Saad bin Shamlan was forbidden to practise
in the Bahrain courts as a wuldl owing to dishonest
mthods. Ibrahim Kamal was sentenced to nine months
hard labour by the Bahrain court for misappropriation

of minors* property and Ahwud Chirawi had recently