“Desire to establish a legal committee responsible for drafting laws and legislation proposed by state departments and in view of the need of a legal committee for consultation on matters related to the application of laws, decrees, and regulations” With those words, the Bahraini legislator expressed his need for a specialized legal entity to prepare laws and legislation and provides legal opinion. This was expressed in the words in the preamble of Decision No. (5) of 1970 establishing the Legal Committee of the Council of State issued by the Prime Minister (the President of the Council of State at the time) His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa (May Allah rest the soul of the deceased in eternal peace), on March 4, 1970.

Thus, based on these principles and initial authorities, the legislator formed the first form of the Commission responsible for reviewing laws and providing legal opinions. The aforementioned legal committee constitutes the first legal form of the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission.

The Committee had four competencies: preparing and drafting laws and legislation proposed by the Council of State, providing legal opinions and consultations on issues submitted by the Council of State or referred to by government departments, consulting on contracts concluded by the government with companies and individuals to ensure their compliance with the laws and regulations applied in the state, and finally, consulting on legal aspects related to any commitment or privilege related to the exploitation of natural resources in the state or any public interest.

Thus, the competencies of the Commission began with three basic competencies: legal opinion tasks, preparation and drafting of laws, and contract review. The Commission at that time was directly subordinated to the Cabinet.

According to this Law the name of the Legal Committee was amended to the Legal Affairs Directorate, which is the second name for the Commission throughout its history, in addition to expanding its competencies, reflecting the legislator's confidence and recognition of its importance. The Directorate was entrusted with the same three main competencies as well as preparing drafts of treaties and international agreements concluded or acceded to by the state and reviewing their provisions to ensure compliance with the laws, decrees, and regulations in force, collecting Law, treaties, and international agreements promulgated in the state or in force therein, translating laws, decrees, contracts, treaties, and documents, and representing the government and its ministries or departments in cases raised by or against them before the courts at all degrees.

In recognition of the judicial nature of the Commission and its members (the Directorate at the time), the law stipulated conditions for appointing counselors to the Directorate that must be met to appoint judges.

Recognizing the importance of the tasks and competencies entrusted to the Commission and its judicial nature despite its recent establishment at that time, the constitutional legislator was keen to allocate specific provisions to it in the fourth chapter concerning the provisions of the judicial authority, where it was mentioned in the First Article under this Chapter. "Clause (c) of Article (101) corresponds to clause (c) of Article (104) in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain as amended in 2002."

The constitutional provision referred to states that "The law shall lay down the provisions pertaining to the Public Prosecution, the tasks of the office for legal opinions, the preparation of legislation, State representation before the law, and personnel employed on such matters.".

This Law marked the initial step towards the independence of the Commission, as stated in its First Article that the Legal Affairs Directorate is an independent Commission, a fact reaffirmed by Article Six of the same law, which stipulates that the Directorate shall exercise its technical competencies independently, with no interference in matters related to the exercise of these competencies. Members of the Directorate (counselors) in their performance are accountable only to their hierarchical superiors.

It is noteworthy that at that time, the legislator appended the Directorate, after confirming its independence, to the Minister of Justice.

Under this Law, the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission was granted new competencies:

Moreover, the law, as a confirmation of the judicial nature of the Commission, stipulated that the appointment of counselors and assistant counselors in the Directorate shall be subject to the conditions required for the appointment of their counterparts, judges, in accordance with the provisions of Article (22) of Legislative Decree No. (42) of 2002 regarding the Judiciary Authority, and shall be subject to the provisions of Law No. (4) of 1975 regarding the Judges Cadre and its amendments, retirement age for judges, and all allowances, bonuses, and financial benefits provided or to be provided to their counterparts, judges.

The appointment, promotion, inspection, and accountability of the aforementioned members shall be governed by the same provisions applicable to their counterparts, judges, without conflicting with the provisions of this Law. It should be noted that the appointment and promotion of counselors in the Commission Shall be by Royal Order.

Under that law, the Legal Opinion and Legislation Committee in the LLOC was formed (the highest legal body in the Commission), chaired by the President of the Directorate, with the Vice President and a sufficient number of counselors of the Directorate as members. The formation of this Committee is decided by the President of the Directorate. The Committee is responsible for providing legal opinions on matters referred to it by the Cabinet, the Chairman of Shura Council, the Chairman of the Council of Representatives, a minister, or the President of the Directorate due to their importance and on matters in which one of the departments of the Legal Affairs Directorate considers an opinion contrary to a legal opinion issued by another department or the Legal Opinion and Legislation Committee. It also reviews draft laws, legislative decrees, decrees and regulations prepared by the Legislation and the Official Gazette Department.

This Law granted complete independence from the executive authority and its agencies to the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission. In its First Article, it stipulated that the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission is an independent body with legal personality, represented by its President before the judiciary and in dealings with others, hereinafter referred to as "the Commission." The Commission has an independent budget, allocated as a separate item in the state's general budget, and the Supreme Council of the Commission is responsible for establishing regulations and decisions related to it. This law came with the third name of the Commission.

That law also established a State Cases Department, affiliated with the Minister of Justice, while revoking the jurisdiction of the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission to represent and plead for the government before the courts. This was an inevitable result of its complete independence, confirming its neutrality and its position of balance between the executive and legislative authorities, especially since it now specializes, as we will see later, in providing binding legal opinions on matters that meet certain conditions and situations specified by law.

Like other laws regulating the work of the Commission, the legislator expanded its competences, reflecting the belief in the important role played by the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission as the trusted advisor of state institutions. The Commission was entrusted with the following:

Ministries, institutions, public bodies, and entities referred to in the preceding paragraph are required by law to seek legal opinions from the department for contracts valued at more than three hundred thousand dinars.

This Law granted the Commission the competence to propose amendments to the constitution referred from the Shura Council and the Representatives Council to the government in the form of a draft amendment to the Constitution.

This law explicitly affirmed the judicial nature of the Legislative and Legal Opinion Commission, in compliance with the constitutional directive stipulated in paragraph (c) of Article (104) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Additionally, according to this Law, the category of Senior Counsels was introduced alongside the existing categories of Counsels and Assistant Counsels.

Based on the judicial nature of the work of the Commission and the counsels working within it, the legislator in this Law directed the preparation of regulations for all functional matters of the counsels, in accordance with the nature of the work in the Commission.

Recognizing the responsibilities entrusted to the Commission as an independent body with a judicial nature, responsible for providing legal opinions and preparing and drafting legislation, the latest amendment to the Commission Law was issued, as follows:

The issuance of the legislative decree is considered a qualitative development in the Commission's jurisdiction and a filling of the legislative vacuum related to the absence of an entity responsible to settle disagreement of opinion between ministries, institutions, or public bodies, whether among themselves or with other entities regulated by law and other existing entities, due to the negative impact of these disagreement, which remain unresolved, on the national economy and the proper functioning of public facilities regularly and steadily. Hence, the legislator's will to grant the Commission this important competence was directed at settling the disagreement of views between the disputing parties under a legally reasoned and binding opinion when issued at the request of those bodies, and after the approval of the Cabinet, in line with the Commission's competence to decide on the dispute over the interpretation of legislative texts.

The Commission also believes that the aforementioned amendments enhance the position of the jurisdiction to provide legal opinions, so that it is in matters of importance referred to the Commission by the Cabinet, the Shura Council, or the Council of Representatives, or governmental entities after obtaining the approval of the Cabinet, in matters related to the laws applicable in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The judicial history of the Commission is deeply rooted in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with several indications and meanings confirming the Bahraini legislator's belief in its role as a trusted counselor to the state's institutions and its executive and legislative authorities alike.

The development of the Commission, particularly regarding the competencies assigned to it, has reflected the vitality of Bahraini society, which has witnessed multiple stages of prosperity and growth, especially those that came during the era of the reformed project under the esteemed leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, may God protect him and preserve him.

The Commission continues to work quietly to ensure that the legal affairs of state institutions revolve within the orbit of legitimacy, elevating the state of institutions and the law that shone brightly during the reign of His Majesty the King.