Legal status
Electronic bills of lading in Bahrain
Bahrain gives legal effect to electronic transferable records, including electronic bills of lading, under Decree-Law No. (55) of 2018 with respect to Electronic Transferable Records.
- Status
- In force
- Instrument
- Decree-Law No. (55) of 2018 with respect to Electronic Transferable Records
- MLETR-based
- Yes
- Enacted
- 28 Nov 2018
- In force since
- —
- Scope
- Applies to electronic transferable records whether or not an operator is used. Covered documents are bills of lading, letters of credit and warehouse receipts, plus other documents of title specified by regulation of the Minister for Transportation after consulting the Governor of the Central Bank; covered instruments are cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes, plus others specified by regulation of the Governor.
In more detail
The decree-law was issued on 28 November 2018 and published in Official Gazette issue 3395 on 29 November 2018. Under Article 19 it took effect on the first day of the month following 60 days after that publication. UNCITRAL lists Bahrain (2018) as having adopted legislation based on the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records.
What remains unclear
No official Bahraini source found states the exact commencement date; Article 19 fixes it by formula rather than by date. The law lets the Minister for Transportation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain add further documents and instruments by regulation; whether any have been issued is not confirmed here.
Sources
- مرسوم بقانون رقم (55) لسنة 2018 بشأن السجلات الإلكترونية القابلة للتداول (Official Gazette No. 3395)Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, Kingdom of Bahrain · published 29 Nov 2018 · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: status, enacted, scope, summary
- Law No. (55) of 2018 with respect to Electronic Transferable Records (English guidance version)Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, Kingdom of Bahrain · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: status, instrument, scope
- Status: UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017)UNCITRAL · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: MLETR basis, summary
- Decree-Law No. (55) of 2018 (HTML text)Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, Kingdom of Bahrain · accessed 16 Oct 2026supports: instrument