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' XXX 1HK I.KGAI. STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES

The Constitution,1 as considered and finally approved by the
Constituent Assembly on 2 June, 1973, comprises 109 Articles.
The Bahrain Constitution lays down the political and legal
foundations of the State, defines the functions of the State organs
and provides for the separation of powers between the Executive
: and the Legislature. It contains five main Parts as follows: Part I.
The State and System of Government. Part II. Fundamental
Constituents of Society. Part III. Public Rights and Duties. Part IV.
Powers. (This Part consists of four chapters concerning (1) the
Amir, (2) the Legislature, (3) the Executive, and (4) the Judiciary).
Part V. General Provisions and Final Rules. Some of the
fundamental and most important provisions of the Constitution
include the following:
Article 1 states:
(a) “Bahrain is an Arab Islamic State, independent and fully
sovereign: its people is part of the Arab homeland. Neither its
sovereignty nor any part of its territory shall be relinquished.”
(b) “The rule of Bahrain shall be hereditary, the succession to
which shall be transmitted from His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman
Al-Khalifah to his eldest son and then to the eldest son of this eldest
son and so forth, generation after generation, unless, during his
lifetime, the Amir appoints one of his sons other than the eldest as his
successor, in accordance with the provisions of the Decree of
Succession provided for in the next section”.
The new system of government in Bahrain is described under
Article 1, Section (d), as follows:
“The system of government in Bahrain is democratic, under which
sovereignty resides in the people, the source of all powers.
Sovereignty shall be exercised in the manner specified in this
Constitution.”
Moreover, Section (e) of this Article confirms that
“the citizens shall have the right to participate in public affairs and
enjoy political rights, beginning with the right of election, in
accordance with this Constitution and the conditions and procedures
set forth in the law.”

Article 2 states that the religion of the state is Islam, “the Islamic
Shari’a is a main source of legislation”, and the official language of
the State is Arabic.
Under Parts II and III, the Constitution guarantees justice,
freedom, liberty and equality for all individuals, in accordance with
the provisions of the law.
The constitution was finally ratified by the Amir on 6 December 1973, and was
1
published as the constitution of the state in al-Jaridah al-Rasmiyah, No. 1049,
December 1973.