BAHRAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Noor Al Rayes, Bradley Price, Mohamed Al Sari and Raghad Al Matrook, Al Tamimi & Company
Al Tamimi & Company Bahrain Financial Harbour, West Tower 13th Floor, Suite 1304, Office 13B Building 1459, Block 346 PO Box 60380 Manama Bahrain
Tel: +971 4364 1641 Fax: +971 4364 1777 Email: info@tamimi.com Web: www.tamimi.com
1. Introduction 1.1 Current Framework for Private Antitrust Litigation Legislative framework Private antitrust litigation in the Kingdom of Bahrain is primarily governed by Law No (31) of 2018 with respect to the Promotion and Protection of Competi - tion (the “Competition Law”), which came into force on 1 January 2019. Before its enactment, competition issues were addressed through general provisions of the Commercial Code, Civil Code and consumer pro - tection legislation. The Competition Law establishes Bahrain’s competi - tion regime by prohibiting: • anti-competitive agreements and concerted prac - tices, Article (3); • abuse of a dominant market position, Articles (8) and (9); and • economic concentrations requiring prior approval where statutory thresholds are met, Articles (11)– (15). The Law also establishes the Authority for Promotion and Protection of Competition (Competition Author - ity), which will investigate suspected infringements, review merger notifications and issues administrative decisions. Those decisions may be appealed before the Appeal Tribunal, with a further appeal on points of law to the Court of Cassation.
Private damages claims are brought before the civil courts under the general rules of civil liability, as rec - ognised by Article (52) of the Competition Law. As a result, Bahrain operates predominantly as a follow- on private enforcement regime rather than permitting fully stand-alone antitrust actions. See 2.1 Statutory Basis for further detail on the statutory basis for pri - vate claims, the elements a claimant must prove and the admissibility requirements under Article (52)(2). Bahrain does not currently provide for class actions or collective redress in competition cases, so claims are generally brought on an individual basis. Overview of significant private antitrust cases Since the Competition Law came into force in 2019, there has been very limited reported private anti - trust litigation in Bahrain. Competition enforcement has largely been driven by the Competition Authority through merger control and administrative investiga - tions, rather than private damages actions. Conse - quently, there are no landmark reported private anti - trust cases that have significantly shaped Bahraini competition jurisprudence. The limited case law reflects the relatively recent introduction of the Com - petition Law, the developing enforcement practice of the Competition Authority, and the continued prefer - ence for regulatory enforcement over private litigation. 1.2 Recent Developments Since the introduction of the Competition Law in 2019, Bahrain has continued to develop its institu - tional competition framework, particularly through the
24 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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