Bahrain Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002)
دستور مملكة البحرين
Summary
Reframed Bahrain from emirate to constitutional kingdom. Restored an elected lower house (the Council of Representatives) after a 27-year suspension following the 1973 constitution's dissolution; created a 40-member appointed upper house alongside it. The king retained the power to appoint the prime minister and dissolve parliament. Critics — particularly Shia opposition who had organized for the elected 1973 body to return — read it as restoring forms without restoring substance.
Impact
Defines current Bahraini political architecture. The 40-40 bicameral split with an appointed Shura Council is the structural reason that no opposition coalition has been able to legislate against royal preference since.
Sources
https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/bh-constitution-2002 How to cite
This is a citation for the legislation itself — credited to Council of Representatives of Bahrain and dated to its 2002 introduction. Tayyar is the retrieval surface, not the author. A separate "Retrieved via" line records that you accessed it through this dataset.
In-text: (Council of Representatives of Bahrain, 2002) (Council of Representatives of Bahrain, 2002)
APA 7Institutional author
Council of Representatives of Bahrain. (2002). Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002) [Legislation]. https://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh. Retrieved via Tayyar (https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/bh-constitution-2002) on June 21, 2026.
Chicago author-dateCommon in political-science journals
Council of Representatives of Bahrain. 2002. “Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002).” Legislation. https://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh. Retrieved via Tayyar, June 21, 2026.
BibTeXLaTeX / Zotero / reference managers
@misc{tayyar-bill-bh-constitution-2002,
title = {{Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002)}},
author = {{Council of Representatives of Bahrain}},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-02-14},
type = {Legislation},
url = {https://www.legalaffairs.gov.bh},
urldate = {2026-06-21},
note = {Retrieved via Tayyar (https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/bh-constitution-2002) on June 21, 2026}
}