Shura Council backs amendments strengthening protections for persons with disabilities

New decree-law advances reforms while preserving existing benefits

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Manama: The Shura Council approved on Sunday a decree-law amending the 2006 law on the care, rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, after its Services Committee said the changes meet constitutional and legal tests and leave existing rights and benefits unchanged. The decree-law, Decree-Law No. (34) of 2025 amending Law No. (74) of 2006, was passed by roll-call vote and sent to the Speaker of Parliament to notify the government. The committee said the text was issued under Article 38 of the Constitution during Parliament’s recess and submitted to both chambers within the legal time limits.

 Reporting for the committee, rapporteur Lina Habib Qassem said the decree-law aims to “develop the legislative framework in line with contemporary rights-based shifts” and to “reinforce the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities”.

 She said it also seeks to update the law to match national policies and the government programme on empowerment and inclusion. One change rewrites how the body in charge of disability matters is described in law. The title “Higher Committee” is removed and replaced with a reference to “the committee established under Article 16”, with its name, composition and term of membership to be set by a decision issued by the Prime Minister.

The Services Committee said the wording leaves more scope for future changes to the set-up without needing to amend the law each time. Social Development Minister, His Excellency Osama Al Alawi, told the sitting the decree-law “strengthens the legal basis for a set of procedures” that accompanied its issue, including changes to the ministry’s set-up for disability services. He said Bahrain would keep the term “persons with disabilities” in legal texts in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified under Law No. (22) of 2011, while using newer labels in organisational structures and services to support empowerment and inclusion.

Shura Council member Ali Al Haddad said the decree-law “brings the terms used in the law into line with the current set-up and removes any duplication or clash in names”, adding that it does so “without affecting the rights and benefits granted to persons with disabilities”. The Services Committee said the amendments are limited to how bodies are arranged and coordinated, including titles and committee arrangements, and do not change the substantive provisions of the 2006 law.