Bahrain's justice ministry said Monday it filed a lawsuit to dissolve a secular opposition party, the state-run news agency said, months after the country's main Shia opposition party was banned.

The justice ministry "has filed a lawsuit requesting the dissolution of the National Democratic Action Society (Waed), in light of Waed's serious violations of the principle of respect for the rule of law, its support of terrorism... and for its promotion of political change by force," according to a statement carried by state-run Bahrain News Agency.

The Sunni left-leaning former head of Waed, Ibrahim Sharif, was freed in July after he served a one-year jail term for anti-regime incitement.

He had already served four years of a five-year sentence over the 2011 protests before being released under a royal amnesty in June last year.

Sunni authorities in Manama have accused its Shia neighbour Iran of stirring unrest in the kingdom. Iran has denied any involvement.

On Sunday, the upper house of parliament approved a constitutional amendment enabling military courts to try civilians accused of crimes that include terrorism, a concept with a broad legal definition.

Last year, a court ordered the dissolution of the country's main opposition party, Al-Wefaq, for "harbouring terrorism" and its leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been behind bars since 2014.

Shia Al-Wefaq was the largest bloc in Bahrain's elected lower house of parliament. Its members resigned en masse in protest against the state crackdown on the 2011 protests.