Rights of citizens and the rule of law
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Sadeque Ali
WHILE the laws in Bangladesh seek to ensure the subservience or adherence of countrymen to them, a serious and unavoidable question remains whether the government and the legal system here adequately uphold the natural, legal and constitutional rights of citizens.
On individuals getting the protection of law and whether their rights are duly honoured under the law, any good observer would reach the conclusion that these are very weak sides to the legal system as well as the rule of law in Bangladesh.
The establishment of the rule of law can solve various ills of the country. The creation of conditions for effective operation of the rule of law calls for many things including, among others, deep-seated institutional reforms. The judiciary must be freed from the influence of the government. This task is now coming to an end. But only the independence of the judiciary will not be enough. The judiciary must be reformed for it to justify its freedom.
The police are at the forefront of law enforcement. But the police are yet to improve their credentials with the people, in terms of offering the services that the latter expect of the police personnel to deliver promptly, efficiently and transparently. Therefore, the police force must undergo a thorough reform that should stress on morals and sensitising them to the rights of citizens. Police reforms must also include a full fledged and functioning vigilance team to reward the efficient and honest personnel and to punish the recalcritrants. The initiative to have such a vigilance team should be stepped up to do the needful for the purpose sooner than later.
Furthermore, the election laws of the country will have to be suitably upgraded or amended to make them foolproof to stop nomination of persons of questionable background for any election. Laws in operation that infringe on fundamental human rights such as section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) needs to be altered, amended or abolished. The law enforcing personnel must be made accountable for violating clearly laid rules of interrogation of persons in their custody and the government must devise a system to progressively increase legal assistance to those who, due to poverty, cannot afford access to justice. And the phenomenon of deaths in the custody of the law enforcing personnel and explaining them later as cross-fire outcomes must be brought to an end.
WHILE the laws in Bangladesh seek to ensure the subservience or adherence of countrymen to them, a serious and unavoidable question remains whether the government and the legal system here adequately uphold the natural, legal and constitutional rights of citizens.
On individuals getting the protection of law and whether their rights are duly honoured under the law, any good observer would reach the conclusion that these are very weak sides to the legal system as well as the rule of law in Bangladesh.
The establishment of the rule of law can solve various ills of the country. The creation of conditions for effective operation of the rule of law calls for many things including, among others, deep-seated institutional reforms. The judiciary must be freed from the influence of the government. This task is now coming to an end. But only the independence of the judiciary will not be enough. The judiciary must be reformed for it to justify its freedom.
The police are at the forefront of law enforcement. But the police are yet to improve their credentials with the people, in terms of offering the services that the latter expect of the police personnel to deliver promptly, efficiently and transparently. Therefore, the police force must undergo a thorough reform that should stress on morals and sensitising them to the rights of citizens. Police reforms must also include a full fledged and functioning vigilance team to reward the efficient and honest personnel and to punish the recalcritrants. The initiative to have such a vigilance team should be stepped up to do the needful for the purpose sooner than later.
Furthermore, the election laws of the country will have to be suitably upgraded or amended to make them foolproof to stop nomination of persons of questionable background for any election. Laws in operation that infringe on fundamental human rights such as section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) needs to be altered, amended or abolished. The law enforcing personnel must be made accountable for violating clearly laid rules of interrogation of persons in their custody and the government must devise a system to progressively increase legal assistance to those who, due to poverty, cannot afford access to justice. And the phenomenon of deaths in the custody of the law enforcing personnel and explaining them later as cross-fire outcomes must be brought to an end.