Implementation challenges of the domestic violence law

The Domestic Violence Prevention and Protection Act, 2010 deals with such cases in Bangladesh. The enactment of this Act was the outcome of an alliance between State’s obligations under the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and nongovernmental advocacy. Domestic violence was recognised as a violation of human rights in 1993 with an obligation on the state parties of CEDAW to work towards a definitive legal framework that would raise awareness, prevent and ultimately help the society get rid of domestic violence.
13 January 2020

Human rights compliant business through NAP

The increasing power and influence of corporations in the last few decades has brought human rights debate in the forefront of business.
13 January 2020

Indian SC recognises access to internet as fundamental right

On the hearing of a plea in connection with internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir since early August, the Supreme Court (SC) of India has declared that freedom of speech and expression through the medium of internet is a fundamental right that can only be curtailed in situations of public emergency or in the interests of public safety.
13 January 2020

Who owns our laws?

On June 25, 2019, an editorial of The New York Times was published based on the Georgia v Public.Resource.Org (a case about whether the State of Georgia can assert copyright in its annotated state code).
13 January 2020

Landmark Apex Court decisions of 2019

2019 has witnessed numerous landmark judgments by our apex courts. As 2020 dawns upon us, let’s revisit some of these notable verdicts.
6 January 2020

Revisiting the laws enacted in 2019

A total of 9 laws has been passed last year by the Jatiyo Sangsad (National Parliament) in Bangladesh regulating different sectors such as labour, education, social welfare, specification, agriculture, animal welfare. Some of the significant Acts of parliament are summarily discussed in this write-up for the readers of The Daily Star.
6 January 2020

Looking into the Noise Pollution (Control) Rules

The Noise Pollution (Control) Rules 2006 were adopted under Section 20 of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995 with a view to laying down the specific guidelines regarding noise pollution and the degree of allowable noise in different areas.
30 December 2019

Telenor’s Legal Notice through the eyes of int’l investment law

Recently, Telenor, the principal investor of Bangladesh’s leading mobile phone operator Grameen Phone, has served a legal notice to the President of Bangladesh seeking arbitration regarding the dues of Tk 125.79 billion of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to Grameenphone. The service of notice by a foreign company to the head of a sovereign state stimulates a debate regarding the legality of the notice.
30 December 2019

Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Memorial Lecture 2019

The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh organised the 15th edition of Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Memorial Lecture on 26 December 2019 in its premises.
30 December 2019

Statelessness and displacement

Human beings do not want to live as refugees which is completely a form of leading very inhumane life. In today’s global order, refugee crisis is one of the very complex challenges for the politically less-influenced countries.
30 December 2019

Absence of adequate legal framework for e-cheques

The electronic form of cheques (e-cheques) and the system of cheque truncation are prevalent in most of the countries in the world. E-cheques and the system of cheque truncation have been introduced to reduce the physical movement of cheques and ensure safe and secure payments.
23 December 2019

ICC to probe into alleged war crimes in Palestine

On 20 December 2019, Ms Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced that the preliminary examination found the situation in Palestine to have met all the statutory criteria under the Rome Statute for the opening of an investigation.
23 December 2019

On interfaith marriage

One of my Muslim friends is in love with a Hindu girl for quite a long time. Now they have decided to marry each other. Their family members do not want them to be married. They are adults and have already left their parents’ houses. Can they marry as they belong to two separate religions?
23 December 2019

Some basic Q & As on The Gambia’s Case against Myanmar

Of late, the social media and news media in Bangladesh have been brimming with questions and concerns about The Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This essay will briefly address a few of such questions which are of legal nature.
23 December 2019

Could Jatiya Sangsad expel Ms Tamanna Nusrat, MP?

Member of the Parliament from one of the women’s reserved seats, Ms Tamanna Nusrat’s loathsome forgery in public examination, her permanent expulsion from the Open University and a subsequent expulsion from the local unit of the ruling party have put the whole fabric of parliament’s institutional morale in question.
16 December 2019

Clean air as a human right

If you are reading this from a city in a high-income country, you have about a one in two chance of breathing in air that exceeds World Health Organisation guidelines for air pollution.
16 December 2019

ICJ case against Myanmar: Why The Gambia?

Myanmar’s military committed extensive atrocities against ethnic Rohingya Muslims. These atrocities reached the peak during the military-led brutal ethnic cleansing campaign, beginning in mid-2017.
16 December 2019

On the settlement of land disputes in the CHT

Land crisis is arguably the main problem in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) centering which many other problems have arisen over the years. From time immemorial, the CHT inhabitants have been complying with their traditional collective ownership principle coupled with customary rules and regulations for land management.
16 December 2019

The strength of human rights education

Human rights education teaches more than the mere definition of human rights. It enables a person to know about his actual legal rights, ways to safeguard those rights and teaches respect to the rights of others.
9 December 2019

Leaving no one behind

If we scrutinise only article 27 of the constitution of Bangladesh, it should be enough to understand that every citizen stands equal and must get equal protection of law.
9 December 2019