The Legitimacy of Counterterrorism Financing Measures in Bahrain with Reference to the United Kingdom

Bahrain has sought to develop a counterterrorist finance (CTF) regime to help manage the threat of terrorism to its citizens and state security and as a responsible member of the international community. By targeting terrorist assets, the goals of such a regime are to provide a source of information and to disrupt terrorist activity by drying up the funds required to maintain terrorist groups and carry out terrorist attacks. To that end, Bahrain has established a coordinated network of government bodies and developed a framework of CTF laws, administrative rules and regulatory measures. While the development of a CTF regime as part of a comprehensive counterterrorist strategy is a rational response to the threat of terrorism, the government’s reactions must be appropriate. Like any government policies, CTF policies should be legitimate and this thesis addresses the question of how well Bahrain’s CTF regime meets that obligation. Considering both Western and Islamic Middle Eastern perspectives, it is argued that legitimacy requires at least some form of democratic participation in the development and implementation of policies, which must also be consistent with the procedural obligations of the rule of law and the substantive obligations of human rights and the Sharia. Applying this understanding of legitimacy, along with benchmark definitions of terrorism and terrorist financing, the thesis to be researched is that Bahrain’s approach to CTF lacks legitimacy. The research involves a socio-legal methodology that engages with doctrinal, empirical and normative analyses. Three deficiencies in the policy-making process are identified, along with eight deficiencies affecting the implementation of Bahrain’s CTF policies. Informed by the UKs approach, proposals are made for reforming the law to strengthen the legitimacy of Bahrain’s policies. The research focus, methodologies and findings all ensure that the thesis is original.