Manama, Sept. 7 (BNA): The cabinet has extended profound condolences and sympathy to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier and the BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa over the martyrdom of five brave soldiers while performing their sacred national duty within the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to support legitimacy in brotherly Yemen.

The panel also condoled with the Bahraini people and the families of the martyrs, and prayed to Allah the Almighty to bestow His mercy on the martyrs and accommodate them in Paradise, and bless their relatives with fortitude and solace.

Chaired by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa at the Gudaibiya Palace today, the session paid homage to the martyrs of duty for sacrificing their lives while defending the nation and supporting the right and legitimacy, alongside their brethren of arms from the Arab Coalition.

It stressed that the Bahraini martyrs would remain remarkable heroes in the national memory, as their heroism wound be engraved in the kingdom’s history, adding that the countries of the Arab Coalition will remain as protective shields that will foil the attempts of terrorist groups to take control of the region and spread chaos, fear and instability across it, Secretary-General of the Cabinet Dr. Yaser bin Essa Al-Nasser said in a statement following the session.

The cabinet also extended deepest condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the brotherly Saudi people following the martyrdom of a number of Saudi soldiers while performing their sacred duty within the Arab Coalition, praying to Allah Almighty to rest the souls of the martyrs in eternal peace.

The session also condoled with the UAE President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the UAE people over the martyrdom of a number of UAE soldiers while performing their national duty within the “Operation Restoring Hope” launched by the Arab Coalition in Yemen, praying to Allah Almighty to accommodate them in Paradise and bless their relatives with patience and solace.

The cabinet approved three draft decrees to make substantial amendments to the Judicial Authority Law promulgated by Decree-Law 42/2002, Decree-Law 8/1989 with respect to promulgating the Court of Cassation Law and Law of Procedures before Sharia Courts promulgated by Decree-Law 26/1986, in line with the government’s bid to develop Sharia-based Judiciary in order to pave the way for cordial settlement of family cases and ensure the right to challenge verdicts at the Court of Cassation.

The draft decrees aim to develop the tools of cordial settlement of family conflicts, and pave the way for reviewing court rulings by the Sharia Department at the Cassation Court.

According to the amendments endorsed by the cabinet, family disputes will be referred to the Family Reconciliation Office to try to work out cordial settlement within ten days that can be extended to a similar period if the two parties agree. If no cordial settlement is reached, the cases will then be referred to the court.

The amendments also allow the appeal of verdicts related to family cases, including divorce, at the Court of Cassation which should issue its ruling within four months.

The Sharia-based verdicts can also be appealed at the Court of Cassation whenever they are based on a violation of the law, a mistake in applying or analysing it or when its implementation procedures are revoked.

Regarding the verdicts issued by the Jaafari Department, they can only be appealed when they are affected as a result of the revocation of implementation procedures.

In another context, the cabinet decided to cancel four directorates of administrative and legal affairs at the Capital Trustees Board, Muharraq Municipality, Northern Municipality and the Southern Municipality and keep the Directorate of Human Resources and the Directorate of Financial Resources at the Municipalities Affairs, as part of the government’s plans to downsize departments.

According to the memorandum presented by the Deputy Premier and Deputy Chairman of the Civil Service Council Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the Property and Parks Directorate at the Capital Trustees Board was also cancelled, and its functions were referred to the Technical Affairs Directorate.

The level of the Capital Trustees Board and the three municipalities were also reduced. They are now named as the Directorate of the Capital Trustees, the Directorate of the Muharraq Municipality, the Directorate of the Northern Municipality and the Directorate of the Southern Municipality.

The cabinet requested the competent sides to take the necessary legal and technical procedures.

It also issued directives to enhance the efficiency of municipal work through developing mechanisms to increase municipal revenues and their investment benefits, upgrade the efficiency of the inspection and violation body, strengthen supervision over municipal projects and take advantage of waste through recycling to be a source of revenue, not a burden on the budget.

The panel also gave instructions to put forward measures to ensure the collection of arrears of the Joint Municipal Resources Fund, and requested the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to submit a memorandum in this regard.

The session was also informed through a memorandum presented by the Labour Minister about the results of the resolution to ban afternoon work during summer.

The cabinet also endorsed a draft law to amend some provisions of Law 14/2002 on the Exercise of Political Rights, proposed by the Shura Council, and referred it to the Council of Representatives, along with the government’s reply.

The session also discussed a number of proposals submitted by the Council of Representatives. They include the allocation of land lots for housing projects, the building of a youth centre in the Muharraq Governorate’s Second Constituency, the building of a standard football stadium in Bani Jamra and the beautification of the street stretching from the King Fahad Causeway to Manama.

The session reviewed and approved the draft government’s replies to the proposals, prepared by the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs.