Although Bahrain has had an established system of law courts since 1771, it was only in the course of the twentieth century that it gradually developed a fully-fledged legal system compatible with international norms.
Today, like the other Gulf states, its sophisticated judiciary represents a blend of Islamic Shari'a, British common law, and modern reforms drawn principally from Egypt's civil law-influenced trdition. In recent decades, arbitration has also taken its place as an important adjunct to the judiciary.