5. Hence, the marriage of the rapist to the victim in accordance with the Article subject of the discussion
requires the complete consent of the woman (victim), where she may not be coerced into matrimony
with the rapist, given that she has absolute freedom to conclude this sound contract with the rapist
which in this case annuals the ruling of a criminal punishment, on grounds that the punishment
even though it aims to achieve general deterrence and the protection of society, it likewise seeks to
safeguard the integrity of society and prevent the dismemberment of the family, and moreover, the
woman who is the victim possesses freedom to reject the marriage which connotes applying the
prescribed criminal punishment to the rapist given the negation of the purposes intended by the
legislator from not applying it, which would place the woman in such case in a weak legal situation,
or at a lower standard insofar as fulfillment of her rights.
6. Perhaps the recommendation arrived at by the Arab Charter Committee in the course of consideration
of the report of the Kingdom of Bahrain referred to as per the foregoing, entwined the amendment of
the provisions of the Penal Code with ensuring that the committers of the act of rape do not escape
criminal responsibility in case of the matrimony of the victim, which would assure the principle of
matrimony grounded in full consent without compulsion, but in referring to the position of Article
(353) of the same law, it may be observed that it necessitates the presence of a sound marriage
contract between the two parties, which connotes not compelling any of the parties to conclude it,
which is indicative of complete consent, where with the presence of the condition contained in the
law the stipulation is consistent with the provisions of the Charter.
اﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻨﻮي اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ
ﻟﻠﻤﺆﺳﺴﺔ اﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔ ﻟﺤﻘﻮق اﻧﺴﻨﺎم
7. Based on the foregoing, it is the view of the NIHR that with full regard for the standards and
ـ2015 ﻟﻌﺎم
considerations intended by اﻟﺒﺤﺮﻳﻦ
the proposedﻣﻤﻠﻜﺔ
law from annulment
of Article (353) of Law Number (15)
for the year 1976 by promulgating a penal law, nevertheless it favors maintaining it as stated in
the original law, to the extent that the matrimonial contract concluded between the rapist and the
victim materialized with her full consent and without compulsion, in addition to the fact that the
same Articles necessitated in order not to apply the prescribed punishment to the rapist concluding
a sound matrimonial contract that fulfills all the legal requirements, which is something that is
compatible with the purposes intended by the legislator from this Article.
Seventh: Proposed law entailing the amendment of some of the provisions of the
Bahraini Nationality Law for 1963, presented by the House of Representatives
(Parliament)
1. The NIHR provided its advisory opinions concerning the proposal to amend some of the provisions
of the Bahraini Nationality Law for 1963, presented by the House of Representatives, where it was
decided to undertake the proposed amendment to the text of Articles (6) and (7) of the law above,
related to the conditions for granting the Bahraini nationality to a foreigner, his spouse and minor
children, and depriving them of some of the rights concomitant with granting them the nationality
for a period of ten years from the date of acquiring it (such as the right to vote or represent or
be nominated or appointment to the local councils, and the right to avail of any form of housing
services assured to the Bahraini nationals by birth, in addition to the regulation of the process of
loss and recovery by the Bahraini woman married to a foreigner of her nationality.
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