Shura puts 24 years of laws in one system

Platform opens lawmaking records to public scrutiny

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Two years of work by a Bahraini team have put 24 years of Shura Council lawmaking into one searchable system, built without hiring an outside company.

The system holds records of laws and decrees discussed and passed across all six legislative terms since 2002. Users can trace a measure from its first stage and debate through to approval and enactment.

‘The legislative system was designed and built by members of the General Secretariat, all Bahraini staff, without the use of outside companies,’ secretary-general Karima Al Abbasi told The Daily Tribune.

The service, available through its upgraded website, is the first smart system in the Arab world to automate legislative work.

Ms Al Abbasi said the task took about two years as staff drew records and data from separate systems into one place.

‘It took us about two years, during which we worked to bring all the other systems and data into one system that is easy for other bodies to use,’ she said.

‘The legislative system contains data on all legislation discussed and passed during the six legislative terms, from 2002 until today.’

For the public, the system can also show what happened to a proposed law along the way.

Faisal Al Shaikh, strategic communications adviser at the Institute of Public Administration, said that could help people understand why some proposals do not become law in the way they had expected.

‘I see this as a very important step for citizens, so they can have a better understanding of legislative work in Bahrain, how laws are introduced, how they move forward and why some do not proceed in the way people might expect,’ he told The Daily Tribune.

Law students will be able to dig further into the history behind each law.

Dr Wafaa Janahi, director of the Quality and Academic Accreditation Office at the University of Bahrain’s College of Law, said students could read session records and meeting minutes from debates held before a law was enacted.

That gives them a way to see how a draft changed as it passed through the legislative process, rather than reading only the final law.

‘It will make legal research easier for them, and students will be able to follow the legislative development of laws through the platform,’ she told TDT.

Ms Al Abbasi said the system was built for council members and staff as well as universities, researchers, legal bodies, government agencies and the public.

‘Users will find all the data and information they need, from legal instruments and legislation to decrees and laws, at the click of a button,’ she said.

The work does not stop there. The next stage will make greater use of Senad, the Shura Council’s official AI-powered virtual assistant.

‘This is the first step. The next step will see greater use of Sanad, the Shura Council’s official virtual assistant, to serve bodies and citizens on a wider scale,’ Ms Al Abbasi said.

It was shown yesterday, International Day of Democracy, to representatives of 20 legal, judicial, academic and training bodies.