The Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the Arab countries that have adopted the UNCITRAL Model-Law with very little changes. Decree Law No. 9 of 1994 with respect to Promulgating International Commercial Arbitration Law (adopted on 16 August 1994) is a UNCITRAL Model Law based which is only applicable to international commercial disputes.
Domestic arbitration is still governed by Chapter 7 (Articles 233 to 243) of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law (“CPPL”), Decree No. (12) of 1971. That law is outdated as it is still based on traditional concepts.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is the hub for offering two important arbitration centres operating in the GCC region. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre since 1993. On 11 January 2010 the Bahrain Chamber of Dispute Resolution was established which is working in partnership with the American Arbitration Association and will be known as the BCDR-AAA.
Bahrain ratified the New York Convention on 6 April 1988 (by Bahrain 323 Decree Law No. 4 of 1988)
Bahrain was one of the first Gulf countries to adhere to the New York Convention (the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards) which was adopted by the United Nations in New York on 10th June 1958 (“New York Convention”).
Date of accession: 6 April 1988.
Entry into force for: 5 July 1988.
Declarations:
"1. The accession by the State of Bahrain to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958 shall in no way constitute recognition of Israel or be a cause for the establishment of any relations of any kind therewith.
"2. In accordance with article 1 (3) of the Convention, the State of Bahrain will apply the Convention, on the basis of reciprocity, to the recognition and enforcement of only those awards made in the territory of another Contracting State party to the Convention.
"3. In accordance with article 1 (3) of the Convention, the State of Bahrain will apply the Convention only to differences arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, which are considered as commercial under the national law of the State of Bahrain."