Bangladesh strengthens independent judiciary

The government has appointed judicial magistrates who, unlike the previously functioning magistrates, will now function under the immediate supervision of the Supreme Court (see D+C/E+Z 11/2007, p. 426).

The change came into effect on 1 November. The Chief Adviser of the Caretaker Government has called this new start of the lower judiciary a “glorious milestone” towards advancing the rule of law in Bangladesh.

With high hopes and unprecedented enthusiasm amongst the general public, some 218 judicial magistrates have started functioning with a huge load of approximately 0.4 million cases pending in about 600 magistrates’ courts. Thus, the new criminal judiciary has a big challenge to face, but is expected to be able to dispense quick and quality justice.

Ideally, the administrative officials who had previously been in charge of magistrates’ courts will no more exercise judicial functions. In a controversial development, however, the government has entrusted the “executive magistrates” with some magisterial functions such as to convene mobile courts to try certain designated offences involving “law and order” and some safety legislations.
This last minute change was apparently a compromising response to an unprecedented protest by certain public officials who stood against the withdrawal of judicial powers from them. Some of them are now under a risk of a contempt of court proceeding, but senior government officials have pledged to extend their all-out support to the judiciary. Ridwanul Hoque