Bangladesh - Structure of Government

Introduction 

Bangladesh is a parliamentary republic with three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. The executive is led by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government, and the President, who is the head of state. The legislative branch is the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament), which is unicameral. The judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, is responsible for interpreting laws and resolving disputes.

THE EXECUTIVE 

In Bangladesh, the executive branch is headed by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government and wields significant executive power. The President is the head of state but holds more ceremonial duties. The Prime Minister leads the cabinet, which is collectively responsible to the parliament. 

The legal basis of the Bangladesh provisional government, established on 10 April 1972, was provided by the proclamation of independence which was to take effect from 26 March 1971. 

The executive government is led by the prime minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. After the resignation of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, the current interim government is led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus as chief adviser.

The head of Interim Government of Bangladesh Dr Muhammad Yunus has proclaimed that the next general election can be held in between the end of 2025 and the first half of 2026 after accomplishing necessary reforms.

THE LEGISLATURE 

The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh provides the legislature the name Jatiyo Shangsad in Bengali and House of the Nation in English. It is commonly known as Parliament.

Parliament of Bangladesh is a unicameral legislature consisting of 350 members of which 300 Members from 300 territorial constituencies that is one from each constituency, on the basis of adult Franchise. The remaining 50 seats are reserved for women who are elected by the aforesaid elected Members in accordance with law on the basis of procedure of proportional representation in the Parliament through Single Transferable Vote. This provision for 50 reserved women seats continue for 25 years from the beginning (January 30, 2019) of the 11th Parliament.

As per provision of clause (3) of article 72 of the Constitution, the term of a Parliament is five years. It is ordinarily dissolved on completion of five years from the date of its first meeting after the general elections. The President has the authority to dissolve the Parliament earlier, if at any time he is satisfied that there is no Members of Parliament. The term of Parliament can be extended beyond 5 years by an Act of Parliament by not more than one year at a time when the Republic is engaged in war.

THE JUDICIARY 

The Judiciary of Bangladesh consists of a Supreme Court, subordinate courts and tribunals.

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.

a) The Appellate Division

The Appellate Division shall have Jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments, decrees, orders or sentences of the High Court Division. It has rule making power for regulating the practice and procedure of each division and of any Court subordinate to it. Chancery Research and Consultants Trust (CRC-Trust) maintains a website [Chancery Law Chronicles-First Bangladesh Online Case Law Database]where it has included the judgments of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh from 1972 to till date.

b) 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 created by some relevant statutes. All their powers, functions and jurisdictions are well 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, Nari-o-Shishu Nirjato Daman Tribunals, Special Tribunals etc. Such courts and tribunals spread all over the country at district levels. The subordinate courts in Bangladesh can be divided in two broad classes, namely, civil courts and criminal courts.

i) Civil Courts

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.

ii) Criminal Courts

Courts of Sessions

Courts of Metropolitan Sessions

Special courts/tribunals (Criminal)

Courts of Metropolitan Magistrate

Courts of Magistrate(5)