Parliament considers higher penalties for insulting public service employees

TDT | Manama

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Higher fines and possible jail terms could soon be imposed on anyone who insults a public service employee, under a draft bill referred to the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and National Security Committee.

The proposed amendments to Article 222 of the Penal Code would raise the maximum fine for such offences from BD50 to BD500. The law covers insults delivered through gestures, speech, writing, or any other means against a public employee—or anyone performing a public service—while carrying out their duties.

Stricter penalties are also proposed for insults made in court, directed at the judiciary as a body or at individual judges. In such cases, offenders could face at least three months in prison or a fine of no less than BD1,000.

MP Ali Al Nuaimi, who submitted the draft, emphasised the importance of safeguarding public employees, describing them as “the main pillar on which the state is built” and essential to implementing government programmes and policies. He noted that Article 222 had been in force for decades, but the existing penalties had not provided sufficient deterrence, prompting the proposed increase in fines and tougher legal consequences.