'File 19/109 IX (C 82) Bahrain - Relations with other Powers' [‎87r] (182/424)

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a list; "but unfortunately, as Article 4 is drafted, the
Bahrein Government also only gets the right to appoint an
assessor after a list has been filed. It seems necessary
therefore to have a new article (which in turn will
necessitate a fresh King^ Regulation as well) in order
to fill the gap in the law.
4. We suggest therefore that an amending law be
enacted on the following lines;
5# At the end of Article 3; after the words
"Article 4" add the words "or Article 5 as the case may
be" and add a new Article 5 - as follows:
"If a foreigner to whom the provisions of Article 3
apply fails to submit a list of his property as
required by Article 4, the Bahrein Government may
apply to the District Court for the valuation of
the property with a view to its compulsory
acquisition. In this case the District Court
shall give notice to the owner of the property,
who shall be permitted to appear, and shall then
determine the valuation of the property; and may
adopt for its purpose such procedure as the Court
shall deem just and appropriate in the circumstances"•
6. Under this text the District Court could in fact
still allow the owner to appoint an assessor, as in
Article 4, and it may be, in many cases, best that it
should do so, as we want to go a long way to avoid any
reasonable ground of complaint; but it will not do to
provide in terms that a man who does not obey the law
and register his property is still just as well off as a
man who does. Moreover, even if this amending legislation
takes time to effect we think that the District Court
should in practice so deal v/ith the matter in the
meanwhile, i.e. should in general give a man whose
property is to be confiscated a chance of appointing
an assessor unless there is something very much against him.
7. There is just one other point to which it is
necessary to draw attention. In the English text of the
Property Law which formed an enclosure to the Political
Resident 1 s/