Shura Backs Three-Year Travel Bans in Debt Cases

TDT | Manama

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Travel bans in civil and commercial debt cases will rise from nine months to three years under a draft law approved by the Shura Council on Sunday.

The bill amends Article 40 of the Implementation Law in Civil and Commercial Matters, issued by Decree-Law No. 22 of 2021. It gives creditors more time to recover money owed under court rulings and seeks to stop debtors leaving Bahrain before implementation measures are carried out.

Under the revised text, an implementation judge may renew a travel ban against a non-Bahraini debtor without a fixed limit on renewals, provided the grounds for the order remain in place.

The bill also curbs the administration’s power to end a non-Bahraini debtor’s residency or order their departure when a court-ordered travel ban has already been issued.

Shura Council member Dalal Al Zayed said the change had been agreed between the two chambers, the government and the Bahrain Bar Society.

‘There was agreement between the two chambers, the esteemed government and the Bahrain Bar Society when discussing the amendment to Article 40 of the Implementation Law in Civil and Commercial Matters,’ she said.

She said the agreement covered ‘the periods, the authority of the implementation judge to issue a travel ban based on the request before him, grievances and appeals, and the renewal of travel ban orders, which will be done without fees’.

Free renewal, she added, was ‘one of the mechanisms that will help move implementation files forward’.

Ms Al Zayed also said: ‘There are some issues in the Implementation Law, but through joint efforts there is always coordination between the judiciary, lawyers and the Supreme Judicial Council to introduce legislative amendments that can help deal with the ability to implement rulings in these matters.’

The Justice, Islamic Affairs and Waqf Ministry backed raising the travel ban period in civil implementation cases to three years, saying the longer period would give the implementation court and private implementation officers enough time to search for assets that could cover the debt.

Dr Hani Al Saati, Rapporteur for the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, said the draft law should be approved because it would give creditors stronger means to recover debts under civil and commercial judgments while keeping travel bans under judicial control.

He said the bill would regulate travel bans against those subject to implementation, limit attempts to leave Bahrain before debts are paid, and allow an implementation judge to renew a travel ban against a non-Bahraini debtor as long as the reasons for it remain.

He added that the wording keeps a balance between court-ordered implementation and the executive branch’s powers over deportation and residency.

Dr Al Saati described travel bans as a temporary precautionary measure, not a punishment, with safeguards including review by the implementation judge and the right to complain or appeal.

On the three-year period, he said raising the maximum from nine months would give creditors enough time to pursue payment while preventing travel bans from being left open-ended without clear grounds.