Law of Bangladesh

Law of Bangladesh is primarily in accordance with the English legal system although since 1947, the legal scenario and the laws of Bangladesh have drifted far from the West owing to difference in socio-cultural values and religious guidelines. In November 2007, Bangladesh has successfully separated the Judiciary from the Executive but several black laws still influence the rulers in creating Special Tribunals in using several black laws including the Special Powers Act.

Fundamental Rights in Bangladesh

Bangladesh People have 24 Fundamental Rights. It Approve by the Constitution of Bangladesh, Part-

1.       Article 26 to 47A. The Fundamental Rights in Bangladesh under below:

2.       Laws inconsistent with fundamental rights to be void.

3.       Equality before law.

4.       Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc.

5.       Equality of opportunity in public employment.

6.       Prohibition of foreign titles, etc

7.       Right to protection of law

8.       Protection of right to life and personal liberty

9.       Safeguards as to arrest and detention

10.   Prohibition of forced labour

11.   Protection in respect of trial and punishment

12.   Freedom of movement

13.   Freedom of assembly

14.   Freedom of association

15.   Freedom of thought and conscience, and of speech

16.   Freedom of profession or occupation

17.   Freedom of religion

18.   Rights of property

19.   Protection of home and correspondence

20.   Enforcement of fundamental rights

21.   Modification of rights in respect of disciplinary law

22.   Power to provide indemnity

23.   Saving for certain laws

24.   Inapplicability of certain articles

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh comprises the Appellate Division and the High Court Division. It is the apex Court of the country and other Courts and Tribunals are subordinate to it.

The High Court Division

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. It hears appeals from orders, decrees and judgments of subordinate courts and tribunals. It has original jurisdiction to hear Writ Applications under article 102 of the Constitution, which is known as extra ordinary constitutional jurisdiction. It has further original jurisdiction, inter alia, in respect of company and admiralty matters under statutes. The High Court Division, in special circumstances, has also powers and jurisdiction to hear and dispose of cases as the court of first instance under article 101 of the Constitution. The High Court Division shall have Superintendence and control over all Courts and tribunals subordinate to it.

The Subordinate Courts and Tribunals

There are a wide variety of subordinate courts and tribunals. Such courts and tribunals are the creatures of statutes. 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. The major bulk of the cases, both civil and criminal, are tried and heard in such courts and tribunals. Certain tribunals are termed as administrative tribunals. Such courts and tribunals spread all over the country at the district levels. The subordinate courts in Bangladesh can be divided in two broad classes, namely, civil courts and 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. The Act provides for five tiers of civil courts in a district, which bottom-up are i) court of assistant judge, ii) court of senior assistant judge, iii) court of joint district judge, iv) court of additional district judge and v) court of district judge. The first three are courts of first instances with powers, functions and jurisdictions in respect of subject matter, territory and pecuniary value determined by or under statutes. The rest two are generally courts of appeal in civil matters. now the civil suits are rapidly disclose in the court

Criminal Courts

1.      Courts of Sessions

2.      Courts of Metropolitan Sessions

3.      Special courts/tribunals (Criminal)

4.      Courts of Metropolitan Magistrate

5.      Courts of Magistrate

Legal Profession

The academic systems of the country allow two separate systems of qualifying legal degrees in Bangladesh which are college-oriented two year LL.B degrees are the University based four-year LL.B (Hons) degrees which require more extensive academic commitment and the seats at the universities remain competitive. But recent rise in the trend of obtaining foreign academic LL.B. degrees (especially from UK) has the tendency in using the loophole in the Bangladesh Bar Council in allowing a foreign LL.B degree holder qualifying as an Advocate in Bangladesh without having properly studied academically the core legal subjects of laws of Bangladesh.

Limitations

Most of the people of Bangladesh live under a certain poverty level and few people are aware law and law enforcement. It’s one of the main reason that many people seeking justice is derived from justice. There are some of the obstacles and limitations to implement rule of law:

o The procedure to get justice is a lengthy process. "Justice delayed justice denied."

o Many crime/violation of rule is overlooked for socio-political reason.

o Involvement of influential person

o Lack of confidence on law enforcement authorities.

o Witness of crime denies assisting for keeping him/her away from a hassle.

o Weak information report by Police.

Corruption