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Background 

Bangladesh is officially known as the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh. Bangladesh lies in

the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent – which is located in southern Asia. It was

created out of the former Pakistani province of East Pakistan by 16th December, 1971.

Bangladesh has an area of 55, 598 square miles (143, 998 sq. km). It is one of the most

densely populated areas in the world. Dhaka is the national capital and the largest city of

Bangladesh.

 Establishment of Legal System The Constitution was adopted on November 4, 1972 and has undergone fourteen

amendments. President Ziaur Rehman amended the constitution in 1977 to remove the

principle of secularism that had been enshrined in Part II: Fundamental State Policy,

replacing it with "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah." The Eighth Amendment of

1988 inserted Article 2A, affirming that, "the state religion of the Republic is Islam, but other

religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in the republic." Women’s rights and the

principles of gender equality come under the Fundamental Principles of State Policy and are

protected by Fundamental Rights, affirming equality of all citizens before the act.

Constitutional Status of Islamic Law 

The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 is still an existing law in

Bangladesh providing for the application of Muslim Personal Law in all matters relating to

Muslim Family Affairs. Justice Mustafa Kamal (then a Judge of the Appellate Division) has,

in his judgment, quoted section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act,

1937, which is as follows:

 

Supported by the provisions of the constitution, it can be said that Muslim personal law is an

eternal law prevailing as the only law for all Muslim Family Affairs. While the constitution

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establishes Islam as the state religion, it provides for the right to practice subject to law,

public order, and morality. Citizens generally are free to practice the religion of their choice;

however, police are normally ineffective in upholding law and order and are often slow to

assist members of religious minorities who have been victims of crimes.

Government  

The president, as the chief of state, holds a largely ceremonial post. The real power is held

by the prime minister, who is head of government. The president is elected by the legislature

(Parliament) every five years. The president's circumscribed powers are substantially

expanded during the tenure of a caretaker government. Under the 13th Amendment, which

Parliament passed in March 1996, a caretaker government assumes power temporarily to

oversee general elections after dissolution of the Parliament.

 

The prime minister is appointed by the president. The prime minister must be a Member of

Parliament (MP) whom the president feels commands the confidence of the majority of other

MPs. The cabinet is composed of ministers selected by the prime minister and appointed by

the president. At least 90% of the ministers must be MPs. The other 10% may be non-MP

experts. According to the constitution, the president can dissolve Parliament upon the written

request of the prime minister.

 

Parliament (The Jatiya Sangsad) The legislature is a unicameral, 300 seat body. All of its members are elected by universal

suffrage at least every five years. Parliament amended the constitution in May 2004, making

a provision for adding 45 seats reserved for women and to be distributed among political

parties in proportion to their numerical strength in Parliament. The Awami League as well as

several women's groups also demanded direct election to fill the reserved seats for women.

All citizens of Bangladesh of and above the age of 18, who have registered themselves as

voters, form the electorate. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament on the basis

of direct election. All citizens of Bangladesh having attained the age of 25 qualify to be

elected to Parliament. Those disqualified include the insane, un-discharged bankrupts,

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persons who on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude have been

sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years unless five years have elapsed since

their release, persons owing allegiance to a foreign state, and persons holding an office of

profit in the service of the Republic. The Election Commission declares the result of the

general election formally a few days later through the publication of the names of winning

candidates in the official Bangladesh Gazette. Members-elect are administered an oath of

office by the outgoing Speaker. 

 

Court System

 The legal system of Bangladesh is based on a common law system. However, unlike other

common law jurisdictions, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has the power to not only interpret

laws made by the Parliament, but to also declare them null and void and to enforce

fundamental rights of the citizens. Although founded on the English common law system, the

laws of Bangladesh take a statutory form, which are enacted by the legislature and interpreted

by the higher courts. There are strong legal obligations for the codification, translation and

publication of laws.

 

The emergence of Bangladesh as an independent, sovereign country called for necessary

amendments, adaptations and the repeal of certain laws as well as the enactment of new laws

and translation of laws into Bangla version to meet the changed and changing political,

social   and economic needs of the new country. Accordingly, Bangladesh Code, Volumes I-

XI were published containing the laws enacted during 1836 to 1938. But due to a lack of

proper leadership, manpower, and sound organizational support, the process had proceeded

no further. As a result, laws enacted after 1938 have been kept scattered and unattended. As

of yet, no effective steps have been taken to update the Bangladesh Codes which have already

been published. It is important to mention that, until today, no comprehensive step has been

taken to update and compile rules, by-laws, regulations, statutory orders, etc. 

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The Supreme Court of Bangladesh

The Judiciary of Bangladesh consists of a Supreme Court, subordinate courts and tribunals.

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is comprised of the Appellate Division and the High Court

Division. It is the apex court of the country; other courts and tribunals are subordinate to it.

The Appellate Division shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments,

decrees, orders or sentences of the High Court Division. It has rule making power for

regulating the practice and procedure of each division and of any court subordinate to it.

The High Court Division, though a division of the Supreme Court, is, for all practical

purposes, an independent court with its powers, functions and jurisdictions well defined and

determined under the Constitution and different laws. It has both appellate as well as original

jurisdiction. 

The Subordinate Courts and Tribunals

 

There are a wide variety of subordinate courts and tribunals. Their powers, functions and

jurisdictions are also determined by the respective statutes. These are the basic courts in the

system of the judiciary of Bangladesh. Certain tribunals are termed as administrative

tribunals. Such courts and tribunals are spread all over the country at the district levels. The

Subordinate Court works with two division:

i. Civil Courts

ii. Criminal Courts

Civil Courts

The civil court system is more popularly known as the subordinate judiciary. The civil courts

are created under the Civil Courts Act of 1887, containing five tiers of civil courts as follows:

i) Court of assistant judge;

ii) Court of senior assistant judge;

iii) Court of joint district judge;

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iv) Court of additional district judge; and,

v) Court of district judge.

The first three are courts of first instance with powers, functions and jurisdictions in respect

to subject matter, territory and pecuniary value determined by or under statutes. The

remaining two are generally courts of appeal in civil matters.

 

Criminal Courts

This system consists of Courts of Session, Courts of Metropolitan Session Judges, Special

Courts/ Tribunals, Courts of Metropolitan Magistrate, and Courts of Magistrate.

 

Codes and Law Reports 

In Bangladesh, the law reports are published according to the provisions of the Law Reports

Act, 1875. There are at least six law reports now in Bangladesh, the most popular one is the

Dhaka Law Reports (popularly known as DLR) which started its publication in 1948.

Bangladesh Legal Decisions (BLD) is published under the authority of the Bangladesh Bar

Council. The other law reports are Bangladesh Law Chronicles, Law Guardian, Bangladesh

Law Times, and the Mainstream Law Reports. Even after the establishment of the Supreme

Court of Bangladesh in 1972, a law report was published for a few years under the

supervision of the Supreme Court. But that did not continue for long. These Law Reports

basically contain the judgments, orders and decisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

 

Bangladesh Gazette

Bangladesh Government Press - widely known as BG Press - is the lying-in house of

government publications, forms, classified materials, budget reports, bills, acts, ordinances,

resolution leaflets, and posters. From synchronizing with the geo-political change and

rearrangements that came on the map of this area, BG Press has achieved its present

infrastructure, manpower, and technology back-up and product range. One may find here

articles related to the Bangladesh Government’s Act and Ordinance:

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Emergency Law

Mobile Court Ordinance

Judicial Separation

Code of Criminal Procedure

Arbitration Law in Bangladesh 

In Bangladesh, the present law of arbitration is contained mainly in the Arbitration Act, 1940,

there being separate Acts dealing with the enforcement of foreign awards.  There are also

stray provisions as to arbitration, scattered in special Acts.  Three types of arbitration are

contemplated by the Arbitration Act of 1940, namely:

(i) Arbitration in the course of a suit

(ii) Arbitration with the intervention of the court

(iii) Arbitration otherwise than in the course of a suit and without the intervention

of the court.

Conclusion

The independence of judiciary and the impartial judicial practice are related concepts,

one cannot sustain without the other. The art of practicing impartiality does not

develop overnight rather it results from understanding, appreciating and acknowledging

the moral values, ethics and professional responsibility over a considerable period of

time. It is basically a question of developing an attitude. In developing that attitude, there

is a need for the development of an ethical framework in our entire legal and judicial

arena and for which there is no other alternative but raising the knowledge of our

legal and judicial professionals with regard to ethics, professional responsibility and

accountability. Ensuring of such knowledge will help the society with long time

benefit in general and particularly for the legal and judicial professionals.