BANGLADESH鈥橲 criminal justice framework has undergone a significant shake-up in 2025. The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898, has been amended twice within a month 鈥� first in July and again in August 鈥� introducing both procedural refinements and major changes affecting arrests, trials and penalties. At first glance, these amendments seem to strengthen...
EVERY year on September 4, the world observes World Sexual Health Day, a global initiative that underlines the essential role of sexual health in human well-being. Sexual health is not merely the absence of disease or dysfunction; it embodies safety, responsibility, dignity and fundamental rights. Promoting it ensures that every individual, regardless of gender, age or...
A SINGLE district police memo tells the story. The language of 鈥榩ermission first,鈥� the stress on 鈥榦rders,鈥� the presumption that authority flows in one direction: these are not quirks of one officer on one day. They are the reflexes of a legal order built to govern subjects rather than to serve citizens. Much of Bangladesh鈥檚 day-to-day criminal justice still runs on statutes...
The chief justice, Syed Refaat Ahmed, on Tuesday administered oath of offices of 25 newly appointed additional High Court judges...
THERE is something profoundly disquieting about a moral catastrophe unfolding under the glaring light of international attention鈥攐nly to be met with an American shrug and a diplomatic shrug-off. Israel鈥檚 unfolding plan to seize full military and administrative control of Gaza, paired with the dismaying acquiescence of the United States, ought to alarm every...
Families of the five journalists, killed during the past year鈥檚 July mass uprising, said that justice for the martyrs seemed elusive as there had been no progress in the process even after a year since the uprising...
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, in partnership with Bangladesh鈥檚 law and justice division and Judicial Administration Training Institute, successfully concluded a two-day basic mediation training programme under its Access to Justice Project...
The European Court of Justice said on Friday national courts must be permitted to carry out detailed reviews of arbitral awards by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque and economist professor Abul Barkat have been sharing same building as division 1 inmates of the Dhaka Central Jail at Keraniganj, on the outskirts of the capital...
IN A quiet courtroom in the Hague, history stirred. A legal ripple, as gentle as a sigh from the Pacific, reached the shorelines of global governance. The International Court of Justice declared, in an advisory fashion though, that one country may, indeed, sue another for climate change. The words hung heavy in the air, stirring both celebrations and scepticism. Rightly so...
Former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque was arrested by a Detective Branch team of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police at his Dhanmondi house in Dhaka Thursday morning.
Chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Sunday nominated justice Md Rezaul Haque as judge-in-chamber-1 and justice Farah Mahbub as judge-in-chamber-2, forming two chamber judge courts to dispose of emergency matters at the Appellate Division...
UNDERSTANDING the concept of environmental crime is a complex attempt that seeks consideration of the overall socio-cultural as well as political structure of a particular area. And the narrow view of criminology and criminal justice theories are changing over time. The idea of environmental justice within the criminological literature started to become prevalent in the...
Chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Thursday warned that judicial independence in the country remains structurally compromised. Without meaningful reform, he cautioned, the country鈥檚 democratic governance and legal progress are at a serious risk.
THERE has long been speculation that the Easter bombing of April 2019 had a relationship to Sri Lankan politics. The near simultaneous bombings of three Christian churches and three luxury hotels, with a death toll of 270 and over 500 injured, by Muslim suicide bombers made no sense in Sri Lanka where there has been no history of conflict between the two religions...
SEXUAL and reproductive health and rights lie at the foundation of bodily freedom, gender justice and fair development. They are not limited to medical access but stretch into the right to decide 鈥� freely and safely 鈥� about one鈥檚 body, one鈥檚 relationships and one鈥檚 future. For Bangladesh, which has made remarkable socio-economic progress in recent decades, ensuring...
Protests against the July 9 killing of a trader allegedly by the activists of Bangladesh Nationalist Party-affiliated organisations near Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital continued for the third day on Sunday...
Political parties at the National Consensus Commission鈥檚 dialogue session on Thursday recommended replacing the term 鈥榠nternal disturbance鈥� with 鈥榮ecurity threats to the state鈥檚 sovereignty and territorial integrity鈥� in the constitution鈥檚 article 141A that relates to the proclamation of emergency...
THE Legal Aid Act 2025, which mandates mediation before filing certain types of cases, is a significant reform aimed at alleviating the severe backlog in the justice delivery system. The government鈥檚 rationale is to promote speedy resolution, reduce costs and enhance the effectiveness of legal aid services, citing that a high percentage of disputes can be resolved...
Movement for Justice-BMU, an organisation of Bangladesh Medical University, submitted a memorandum on Sunday to its vice-chancellor Professor Md Shahinul Alam, demanding a campus free from fascism and discrimination...
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued six new directives to ensure timely dispatch of court orders.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Sunday iterated the urgent need for a separate judicial secretariat to ensure full administrative and financial autonomy of the judiciary.
Bangladesh chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Thursday said that the upcoming national seminar on judicial independence and efficiency, scheduled for June 22, will mark a turning point for the country鈥檚 judiciary.
Chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has extended by a month the leave of High Court judges Md Ashraful Kamal and Md Badruzzaman, who face separate allegations...
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police once again banned public gatherings, rallies and demonstrations in areas surrounding the Supreme Court and the chief justice鈥檚 official residence in the capital.
Justice has remained elusive for the last three decades for the family of Kalpana Chakma, organising secretary of the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation, as she has remained traceless till date since her abduction at dead of night on June 12, 1996 from her home in Baghaichari of Rangamati...
HISTORY, for all its weight, often sits uneasily in the present. In Bangladesh, that tension has resurfaced with the recent revival of the International Crimes Tribunal and the sweeping amendments passed on May 11. On paper, the goal remains the same: justice for grave crimes. But peel back the legalese, and what emerges is a murky debate...
HORRIFYING details of enforced disappearances and custodial torture in secret detention centres that the deposed Awami League government had for long denied have been substantiated in the second report of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances set up in August 2024. The commission in the report submitted on June 4 said that more than 300 victims of...
Bangladesh鈥檚 chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Tuesday called for united global efforts to strengthen judicial independence and uphold human rights, especially during critical times for Bangladesh.
The chief justice, Syed Refaat Ahmed, held a meeting with the chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, on Sunday at the state guest house Jamuna...