View source for 1973 Constitution of Bahrain

The '''1973 Constitution of Bahrain''' was the first of two [[Constitution of Bahrain|constitutions of Bahrain]]. It was in effect from December 1973 to August 1975.<ref name="loc">{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Hooglund |first=Eric |title=Bahrain: The Constitutional Experiment |editor-last=Metz |editor-first=Helen Chapin |editor-link=Helen Chapin Metz |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/frdcstdy.persiangulfstate00metz_0 |encyclopedia=Persian Gulf states : country studies |date=1994 |publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]] |isbn=0-8444-0793-3 |edition=3rd |location= |pages=137–142 |oclc=29548413 }} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

== Background and drafting ==
On December 16, 1971, the day Bahrain formally [[History of Bahrain|became independent]] of the [[United Kingdom]] (Bahrain technically gained its independence earlier in the year, on August 15), Shaykh [[Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa|Isa ibn Salman]] announced that the country would have a [[Constitution|constitutional]] form of government.<ref name="loc" /> Six months later, he issued a [[Amiri decree|decree]] providing for the election of representatives to a [[Constituent assembly|Constituent Assembly]], charged with drafting and ratifying a constitution.<ref name="loc" /> The assembly was to consist of twenty-two elected delegates plus twenty additional members, including eight delegates appointed by the [[King of Bahrain|emir]] and the twelve members at the time of the [[Council of Ministers (Bahrain)|Council of Ministers]].<ref name="loc" /> The [[1972 Bahraini Constituent Assembly election|election]], which was held in December 1972, was the first national election in Bahrain's history.<ref name="loc" /> The electorate was restricted to native-born male citizens aged twenty years and older.<ref name="loc" />

The relative openness of political debate permitted during the election campaign for the twenty-two contested Constituent Assembly seats encouraged individuals dissatisfied with the lack of democratic rights to demand more [[civil liberties]].<ref name="loc" /> The primary focus of concern was the [[1965 Law of Public Security]], a series of three emiri decrees that authorized the ruler to maintain indefinitely a virtual [[state of emergency]] in order to protect national security from suspected foreign and domestic enemies.<ref name="loc" /> A group of mostly university-educated professionals, led by [[Abd al Aziz Shamlan]], unsuccessfully petitioned the emir to rescind the law's harshest provisions, especially those pertaining to arrest and detention.<ref name="loc" /> They believed these measures had been used arbitrarily to silence dissent and peaceful opposition.<ref name="loc" /> Several women's groups also organized to protest the exclusion of women from the franchise.<ref name="loc" /> They presented a petition to the emir requesting support for extending voting rights to female citizens, but they failed to receive a positive response.<ref name="loc" />

The Constituent Assembly was in session during most of 1973 drafting the constitution.<ref name="loc" />

== The Constitution ==
The constitution, enacted by emiri decree in December 1973, contained 108 articles.<ref name="loc" /> It provided for an advisory legislative body, the [[National Assembly of Bahrain|National Assembly]], consisting of thirty members elected for four-year terms, plus all the members of the Council of Ministers whose terms were not fixed, as [[Ex officio member|ex officio members]].<ref name="loc" /> The assembly was not empowered to initiate or enact legislation, but it was authorized to give advice and consent to laws proposed by the Council of Ministers.<ref name="loc" /> The assembly had the right to question individual ministers about policies and to withdraw confidence from any minister except the prime minister.<ref name="loc" /> The constitution stipulated that the emir could dissolve the assembly at his discretion, provided he make public the grounds for so doing.<ref name="loc" /> If the assembly were dissolved by decree, new elections had to take place within two months or the dissolution would be invalidated and the dismissed members reinstated.<ref name="loc" />

== Election under the 1973 Constitution and suspension of the 1973 Constitution ==
The [[1973 Bahraini general election]] was the only election held under the 1973 Constitution.

The emir dissolved the National Assembly in August 1975, citing its inability to cooperate with the government.<ref name="loc" /> Although the constitution stipulated that new elections had to take place within two months of a dissolution, this did not occur.<ref name="loc" /> One year later, in August 1976, Shaykh Isa ibn Salman announced that the National Assembly would remain dissolved indefinitely.<ref name="loc" />

The country was governed under emergency laws from 1975 to 2002.<ref name="FRD">[https://books.google.com/books?id=OsSPaxEpUS4C&pg=PA97 Bahrain], [[Federal Research Division]], 2004, [[Kessinger Publishing]], pp 97 - 98</ref>

== References ==
{{wikisourcepar|Constitution of the State of Bahrain (1973)}}
<references />

[[Category:Constitutions by country|Bahrain, 1973]]
[[Category:Law of Bahrain]]