8. Actually the end of the article of Article (361) of the proposal for a law states: (or in case a crime
occurs at a public building or public facilities or vital installations or to one of the quarter mentioned
in Paragraphs one and five and six of Article (107), given that the quarters provided in Paragraph
First, Fifth and Sixth of Article (107) overlaps substantially with quarters specified previously by the
same proposal, namely: (one of the public buildings or those allocated for governmental interests or
public facilities or vital installations).
9. Based on the foregoing, it is the view of the National Institution that it agrees in principle with
the amendment stated in Article (361) of the Decree-law Number (15) of 1976 in the Penal Code,
given that they are amendments that are not considered intensification which impinges on the
enjoyment by persons of basic rights and freedoms, and do not present a violation of human rights
in accordance with the relevant international human rights instruments and conventions, but it
views with favor reconsidering the term monitoring (Muraqabah) given that it conceptually entails
numerous legitimate actions which may be construed and interpreted as monitoring which is
punishable according to the proposal, and it also views with favor specifying the quarters expressly
intended by the proposal in the end of the article (361) instead of referencing them in Paragraphs
(1), (5), (6) of Article (107) of the same law, such in order to prevent the possibility of interpretation
in line with the principles of legal formulation of criminal rules.
Fifth: A bill to amend Article (370) of the Decree-law by amending Article (370) of the Decree-law
Number (15) of 1976 in the Penal Code
1. The National Institution has submitted its advisory opinion concerning a bill amending Article
(370) of the Decree-Law Number (15) of 1976 in the Penal Code, and the proposal comprises of two
articles, in addition to the preamble, including amending Article (370) of the Decree-law Number
(15) of 1976 in the Penal Code, and an executive article.
2. Article (370) as stated in the bill provides that: “A prison sentence for a period not exceeding 6
months and a fine not exceeding BD 50, or either penalty, shall be inflicted upon any person who
publishes by any method of publication news, photographs or comments relating to individuals’
private or family lives, even though they are true, should the publication thereof be offensive thereto.
And punishable by the punishment provided in the previous Paragraph is anyone who: 1-Publishes
by any public means pictures or video clips of person or persons in a public place, with the purpose
of causing defamation and insult. 2- Publishes by any public means photos or video clips of the
injured or the deceased as a result of the accidents, such in other than the cases allowed by law”.
3. The National Institution values the standards and principles upon which is based the proposal
at issue, represented- as stated in the explanatory memorandum- in that the proposal emerges to
tackle the new crimes in society caused by the spreading of technology and its rapid development,
and its misuse for purposes of impinging on the private life of individuals and defamation and
inflicting damage to them through the various information technology means in a manner harming
the dignity of society.
32