New bill to impose tougher penalties for secret recordings

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A revised bill that would make it a jailable offence, with penalties rising to five years in prison and a BD5,000 fine in severe cases, to secretly record private conversations, film accident victims or publish intimate details of others’ lives goes before Parliament on Tuesday.

The measure amends Bahrain’s Penal Code, focusing on Articles 354, 370 and 372, and addresses privacy breaches made easier by mobile phones and social media.

It combines two earlier drafts, one submitted by the Shura Council and the other by the government in 2019, now brought together as a single text.

Version

Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee has backed the version adopted by the upper chamber.

The proposed changes would criminalise a range of behaviour, including eavesdropping, filming people in private settings without consent, and sharing personal material, even if accurate, when it causes harm.

The base penalty is imprisonment and a fine between BD500 and BD1,000.

Punishment

If the act involves public sharing or matters related to honour, the punishment may rise to five years in prison and a BD5,000 fine.

The current law, unchanged since 1976, imposes a maximum of six months in prison or a BD50 fine for publishing details of someone’s private or family life in a way that causes harm.

The committee noted that such penalties no longer reflect how quickly and widely such material can now spread.

Clause

The Shura Council’s version introduces a clause that allows consent to be presumed when the act occurs during a meeting in front of the affected person and no objection is raised.

Legal proceedings under the new provisions may only begin if the victim, their legal guardian or heir files a complaint.

If there is no guardian, or a conflict of interest arises, the public prosecutor may step in.

Chambers

Both chambers have already agreed on most parts of the draft, including the title, preamble and several articles.

The dispute centres on the wording of Articles 370 and 372.

The committee has recommended that MPs adopt the Shura Council’s version in full.