A panel of jurists on Sunday told the National Consensus Commission that the existing constitution offered no foolproof legal basis to adopt the July Charter, suggesting drawing on global constitutional theories to frame a new arrangement.
They, however, noted that any new constitutional arrangement would ultimately require a broad political consensus.
The consensus commission held the meeting with law adviser Asif Nazrul, attorney general Md Asaduzzaman, and a panel of jurists聽 to explore options to implement the July Charter.
Justice MA Matin, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, and Supreme Court lawyers Sharif Bhuiyan and Imran A Siddiq attended the meeting as legal experts.
The session took place at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Earlier, on August 10, the commission had first met with the expert panel, which then also included Dhaka University law faculty dean Professor Muhammad Ekramul Haque and Supreme Court lawyer Tanim Hossain Shawan.
During Sunday鈥檚 meeting, the law adviser told the consensus commission that the interim government was serious about reforms, and that the law ministry had appointed Tanim Hossain Shawan as a special consultant to support the legal aspects of reform initiatives.
One participant, speaking on condition of anonymity, told 抖阴精品 that the jurists observed that there was no foolproof legal provision in the existing constitution to accommodate the July Charter as a mandatory component.
They suggested that a referendum, held alongside the 13th national elections, could provide voters鈥� approval for incorporating the charter into the constitution.
The jurists also argued that a presidential ordinance alone would not sustain the charter, while the proposal for a constituent assembly lacked sufficient backing from most political parties. They further discussed the challenges of holding a referendum.
In addition, the jurists emphasised the need for a thorough analysis of constitutionalism and globally accepted constitutional theories to identify solutions beyond the country鈥檚 existing legal framework.
Such an approach, they said, could point to a new constitutional arrangement under which the next parliament might ratify the July Charter 鈥� though this would still depend on broad-based political consensus.
Formally beginning its work on February 15, the National Consensus Commission has so far held two rounds of dialogue with political parties, between March 20 and July 31.
Summarising the discussions, the commission shared the final draft of the July National Charter 2025 with the parties on August 16, seeking feedback by August 22.
By August 23, a total of 26 political parties 鈥� including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party 鈥� had submitted their opinions to the commision.
NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz said that the commission would invite the parties this week for another round of dialogue after analysing the feedback on the draft charter.
He added that Sunday鈥檚 meeting also reviewed the progress on reforms that could be implemented immediately.
NCC members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Md Ayub Mia, and the chief adviser鈥檚 special assistant for reforms, Monir Haidar, were present at the meeting.
