The Institute of Judicial and Legal Studies recently held its nineteenth virtual meeting of its Board of Trustees, headed by the Attorney General, Dr. Ali bin Fadl Al-Buainain, and in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Endowments, the Undersecretary of Justice and Islamic Affairs Judge Issa Al-Mannai, and Professor Dr. Riyadh Hamzah The President of the University of Bahrain, the lawyer, Professor Hassan Bedaiwi, President of the Bahrain Bar Association, and Dr. Khaled Seri Siyam, the President of the Institute.

At the beginning of the meeting, the head of the institute, Dr. Khaled Seri Siyam, reviewed the agenda of the meeting, which includes following up the implementation of the decisions of the Board of Trustees, reviewing the annual report of the institute’s activity for the judicial year 2019/2020, approving the training plan for the second half of the judicial year 2020-2021, in addition to following up the implementation of development projects Institutional of the institute, at the forefront of which are the requirements for expansion in the implementation of distance training programs and in the implementation of contractual programs with local and international partners.

After reviewing the content of the annual activity report, the Attorney General, Dr. Ali bin Fadl Al-Buainain, praised the Institute’s achievements at various levels and its rapid transformation into implementing its programs and training activities of all kinds using the latest tools and mechanisms for remote training, despite the negative effects of the Corona pandemic and its consequences. There was a suspension of activity inside the halls of the institute, as the institute’s administrators succeeded in implementing 81 training programs, including more than 1,000 training hours, of which 2,614 trainees benefited from various bodies, and more than 5,000 viewers benefited from them who followed the re-publication of the training content of the awareness programs on The institute's page on social media channels. Distance training represented the majority of these programs, with 71 training programs benefiting 1519 trainees from judges, members of the Public Prosecution Office, lawyers and legal researchers in various institutions of the Kingdom.

His Excellency the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments expressed his happiness at the high level of evaluation of the impact study of training, which reached 91% for basic training programs, and emphasized the Ministry's keenness to encourage expansion of the programs offered by the Institute for Lawyers, whether they are basic or continuous training courses.

The institute’s president affirmed the institute’s commitment to holding its two main programs for basic training for new lawyers, which is being prepared to present its twelfth edition in early 2021, and the English language practice law program, which preparations are underway for the launch of its second edition, and he also noted the activity report’s content of attending more than Over 1000 attorneys for continuous training courses.

Mr. Hassan Bedaiwi, President of the Bahrain Bar Association, expressed his deep thanks for the efforts of the Institute and the support of the Ministry, and affirmed the readiness of the society and law firms to provide various forms of support and sponsorship for the training programs for lawyers to achieve the best possible level of training for young lawyers.

After the President of the Institute reviewed the various forms of the institute’s institutional activity and the requirements for developing its future performance in light of the development of the training process on the world level, His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa affirmed full support for the development requirements and asked the institute’s management to provide a detailed report of the requirements of institutional, logistical and human transformation. Necessary to keep pace with the development of tools and mechanisms for legal education in general and vocational training in particular, and the Board of Trustees called for an exceptional meeting to discuss this report within the month of February.

In the same context, Prof. Dr. Riad Hamzah, President of the University of Bahrain, stressed the need to quickly catch up with the train of change, and expressed full readiness to provide all the experiences of the University of Bahrain in this regard to assist the institute in developing its work mechanisms.

Regarding local and international cooperation relations, the members of the Board of Trustees commended the efforts of the Institute, those in charge and its staff, and their success in developing and maintaining strong and close ties of cooperation with the various relevant national bodies and the continuation of close cooperation with both the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Committee. The Red Cross and support the institute’s approach towards regional expansion in the issues in which the Kingdom of Bahrain has useful experiences, as is the case with the issues of alternative measures and penalties. They praised the participation of the Institute and the employees of the Public Prosecution and the Ministry of Interior in a number of regional events, and they also commended the Institute's efforts in supporting the effective application of judicial innovations, as is the case in the case of commercial and criminal mediation and in the matter of awareness of the electronic services provided by the various judicial and judicial authorities in the Kingdom.

The Board of Trustees approved the proposed action plan for the second half of the judicial year 2020-2021, which was prepared after communicating with the beneficiaries of the institute’s activity, taking into account the findings of opinion questionnaires and the evaluation reports disclosed of the various programs that have been implemented during the past year.

Attorney General Dr. Ali bin Fadl Al-Buainain thanked the administration of the institute and all its employees, and wished everyone a successful new year in which more success, progress and prosperity would be achieved to serve the legal and justice system in the Kingdom of Bahrain.