Page 282 - Bahrain Gov annual reports(V)_Neat

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the Code were objected to but except in the ease of one or two sections which could without any
difficulty have been changed, no definite objection was put forward by any individual or
organisation. Agitation against the imposition of the Code increased.
On 13th August His Highness published a proclamation postponing the entry into force
of the Code until November 1st. A similar postponement was made in the case of the British
Code. A group of merchants and some of the Kadhis were then invited to meet in order to
discuss any objections which there were to the Code, but only a few of them attended the
meeting and it produced no result.
On August 30th, as opposition to the code appeared to be increasing, His Highness issued
another proclamation postponing indefinitely the adoption of the Code. The courts continued
to function as they had in the past.
There is reason to believe that the persons who were mainly responsible for the agitation
against the Code objected principally to sections about sedition and action against the state.
It was then decided that a legal expert from some Arab country should be employed by the
Government to examine the Code and to give his opinion about it. At the end of the year
negotiations were being carried on between the Government and Dr. Abdul Razzaq Sanhoori,
a well known Egyptian jurist who appeared to be the most suitable candidate out of several
possible persons who were considered.

Labour Legislation. A committee formed by the Government to draft a labour law for
Bahrain held its first meeting on April 30th and met regularly throughout the rest of the year.
The committee, known as the Labour Law Advisory Committee, consisted of three representa­
tives of the Government, three representatives of employers, and three representatives of
workers. The chairman was Sheikh Ali bin Mohamed Al Khalifah, one of the representatives
of the Government. A British Government Labour Adviser helped the Committee with its work.
The Committee was still preparing the draft of the Law at the end of the year.
The Labour Law is intended to regulate the relations between employers and employed
persons, to provide for certain minimum conditions of employment, to regulate trade unions,
to provide for the establishment of arbitration boards in connection with trade disputes, and to
regulate trade disputes.
A Workmen’s Compensation Law is to be drafted on completion of the Labour Law, and
during 1956 the Government hopes to carry out a Census of Employment and a Cost of Living
Enquiry.

The Bahrain Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Regulation 1955. On 24 Shawal 1374
(15th June, 1955) H. H. the Ruler issued an ’Alan bringing into force in Bahrain on 1st August
1955 an ordinance providing for the registration of patents, industrial designs and trade marks.
This ordinance gives protection to the registered owners when registration is completed in
Bahrain, and is afforded to patents, designs and trade marks which have subsisting registration
in the United Kingdom and also for local trade marks which are exclusively used in Bahrain,
Kuwait, Qatar, Muscat and Oman and other Persian Gulf States in accordance with special
provisions mentioned in the law.
The Registries organized and maintained under the ordinance are in the Arabic and
English languages, and H.H. the Ruler and Her Majesty’s Government jointly administer
and adjudicate on all matters arising under the law.

The Registries opened for business on 1st October 1955 with staff recruited and trained in
Bahrain.
Up to the end of December 1955, there had been 125 applications for the registration of
United Kingdom trade marks and 18 local trade marks.

The fees collected in the Registries up to the end of 1955 amounted to Rs. 3375/-.
All records in the Registries and all certificates of registration are in Arabic and English.