16. B
esides the right to equality in employment without discrimination, there is the right to litigation,
which represents the most important right for expatriate workers, and regulates how to settle
individual and collective work disputes, for all without exception on the basis of negotiation,
mediation, conciliation and arbitration. Recourse to the litigation right is guaranteed for everyone,
whether they are citizens or foreigners, and this was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in the
Kingdom of Bahrain in its ruling which stipulates that: “the rights that derive their existence from
the legal texts must enjoy the protection guaranteed by the Constitution or the legislature, and the
State has a legal obligation to provide the legal procedures and the substantive rules that enable
the rights’ holders, whether Bahrainis or foreigners, to fend aggression on their inalienable
rights according to the existing rules”. The natural approach to such protection is manifested in
the right to litigation principle established in article No. (20 /h) of the Constitution of the Kingdom
of Bahrain, which states that: “The right to litigate is guaranteed ...” as the phrase contained was
in a general and specific format, including citizens and foreigners alike and including all the rights
contained in the Constitution or in laws10.
17. In order to facilitate foreign workers access to their rights, it was necessary to give them some
privileges, including exemption from legal fees at all stages of litigation and enforcement in the
cases filed by workers or their beneficiaries, considering that the worker is the weaker party in the
employment relationship, which requires justice and protection, as well as the need for speed in
probing the cases and taking decisions, taking into account the special circumstances experienced
by the worker. The Bahraini legislator took this into account in Article No. (6) of the Labour Law for
the private sector No. (36) for the year in 2012, where workers are exempt from judicial fees in all
labor lawsuits filed by workers or on their behalf.
18. With regard to protection of a social nature, the employee has the right to social insurance as
well as insurance against occupational diseases and work-related injuries, up to the provision of
unemployment insurance like the citizens, where the Decree Law (78) for the year 2006 on the
unemployment insurance gave the foreign workers the opportunity to receive compensation against
the risk of unemployment once the conditions for it were met, along with the right to holidays, and
the organization of working hours, and the protection of working women, and the right to health
care and to benefit from health treatment services on an equal footing, not to mention their right to
undergo regular medical examinations.
19. A
s part of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s endeavor to practice control over individuals’
enjoyment of the right to work and the consequent effects, and in order to maintain permanent
supervisory powers of the working environment, in addition to solving individual or collective
disputes between the parties to the relationship, the Ministry of Labour conducted approximately
(10273) inspection visits in 2015, where it found that commitment to labor law in the private sector
accounted for 98.82% of the total entities that were visited. Regarding its efforts to monitor the
facilities commitment to resolution No. (3) for the year 2013 on the work ban under the sun in July
and August, there were 16563 visits conducted to the various work sites.
Published in the Official Gazette on July 3, 2008 in the No. 2850 / restricting lawsuit at the Constitutional Court schedule number D / 1/60
to 4 year
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