Court rejects foreign khul’ divorce decree

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The Bahrain High Administrative Court rejected a woman’s application to enforce a khul’ divorce decree issued by a Gulf state court, citing the lack of necessary finality for enforcement within Bahrain.

The woman sought to have the divorce decree recognised, aiming to establish her legal separation from her husband and secure payment of expenses and legal fees.

She presented documentation of the divorce granted in a Gulf state court, but failed to provide sufficient evidence demonstrating the judgment’s finality and the absence of appeals.

Documentation

Despite being given ample time to comply with the court’s request for this crucial documentation, she did not do so.

The court’s decision clarified that enforcing foreign judgments in Bahrain requires specific conditions.

These include ensuring Bahraini courts lack jurisdiction over the matter, while the foreign court that issued the judgment must have had proper jurisdiction according to international judicial rules.

All parties involved must have been properly notified and represented in the original case.

Finality

Moreover, the judgment must have achieved finality under the laws of the issuing court and cannot conflict with any prior Bahraini court judgments or violate Bahraini public order or morality.

The court emphasised the absence of proof in the woman’s application that the Gulf state court’s judgment had reached finality under its own legal system.

Her failure to provide the requested evidence of finality, despite being given sufficient time to do so, directly resulted in the dismissal of her case.