His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of the country, may God protect and preserve him, issued a decree of Law No. (39) of 2025 to amend some provisions of Decree Law No. (21) of 2013 regarding the regulation of collecting money for public purposes, based on the offer of the Prime Minister and after the approval of the Council of Ministers, stating:
Article 1
It is replaced by the definition of (the licensee) mentioned in Article (1) of Decree by Law No. (21) of 2013 regarding the regulation of collecting money for public purposes, as well as the texts of Articles (2), (7), (8) the second and third paragraphs, and (14), from the same law, the following texts:
Article (1) Definition (licensed):
The licensee: Every legal person who was granted a license to collect money or was notified by the Ministry’s approval to receive donations for public purposes, or every natural person who has been granted a license to collect money for religious purposes, all in accordance with the provisions of this law.
Article (2):
Legal persons are prohibited for money for public purposes only after obtaining a license to do so from the minister and in accordance with the provisions of this law.
Natural persons are also prohibited from collecting money unless the purpose of combining is religious.
Article (7):
Every natural or legal person must receive a donation for general purposes without a license, to inform the ministry within seven working days from the date of the reception, explaining the value of the donation, its purpose, and the donor’s data, and the ministry must notify the recipient within thirty days from the date of reporting its decision to accept the donation or reject it according to the agreement of the purpose of donating with public purposes or not. The missed period is considered without a response as an implicit rejection.
The executive regulations specify the regulations for accepting donations, the rules of their spending, and the reports to be submitted on them.
Article (8) The second and third paragraphs:
The license person must, within thirty days from the date of the end of the license period or from the date of his notification of acceptance, must submit a detailed report to the ministry that includes the outcome of what was collected and the exchange aspects, supported by the documents supporting its validity. This report is presented annually if the period specified for collecting money increases for a year.
The executive regulations show the methods and procedures for verifying exchange aspects.
Article (14):
He is punished with life imprisonment or imprisonment, which is not less than ten years, and a fine of no less than one hundred thousand dinars and no succession of five hundred thousand dinars, everyone who raised money for a terrorist purpose.
He is punished with imprisonment and a fine that does not exceed one thousand dinars or one of these two penalties.
Those who violate the provisions of Article (9) of this law shall be punished with the punishment stipulated in the previous paragraph.
In all cases, the court requires the confiscation of the funds that have been collected or any money equal to the value that are owned by the perpetrator, and the funds are subject to confiscation in favor of the charitable works determined by the ministry.
Article Two
Two new articles are added by Burqami (10) bis, and (14) bis, to Decree Law No. (21) for the year 2013 regarding the regulation of collecting money for public purposes, the following text:
Article (10) bis:
According to the approach based on risk analysis, the ministry shall assess the risks of their licensees to collect money and determine the nature of the risks of terrorist financing that may be exposed to, and the necessary and proportional measures are taken with the degree of these risks to address them and enhance control over them, provided that these measures are updated whenever an update is mentioned in the national risk report.
Article (14) bis:
The Ministry may impose an administrative fine not exceeding ten thousand dinars on anyone who violates the provisions of this law, its executive regulations and decisions issued in implementation of it.
When signing the administrative fine, it is necessary to take into account the gravity of the violation, the intransigence that appeared from the violator, the benefits he gained, and the damage that afflicted others as a result.
The minister shall issue a decision to determine the violations that have a administrative fine, and its value.
Article Three
The Prime Minister and Ministers must – each of his concerns – must implement the provisions of this law, and it is worked on from the day following the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
