The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), reconstituted through a new ordinance issued during the interim government, has again fallen into uncertainty after a parliamentary special committee recommended against approving the ordinance.
The interim government issued the ordinance in November 2025 to restructure the NHRC and enhance its powers.
Following the national election on February 12, the BNP formed the government. The first session of the new parliament is currently underway. Under the Constitution, any ordinance must be approved within 30 days of the first session of parliament, or it automatically lapses.
Accordingly, if the ordinance is not placed in parliament as a bill by April 12, it will become ineffective. NHRC member Md Nur Khan said that if the ordinance lapses, the existing framework for the selection and appointment of the commission’s five members will no longer remain in force.
The commission will also lose the authority granted under the ordinance to investigate government officials, law enforcement agencies, and intelligence agencies.
The ordinance had empowered the commission to initiate investigations on its own and to summon documents from various state agencies. Nur Khan said that if it is repealed, the commission will revert to its previous structure under the 2009 law.
He said the expectations created among human rights activists have now fallen into uncertainty, adding that it remains unclear whether the commission’s independence will be maintained under the new law.
A parliamentary special committee reviewed a total of 133 ordinances issued during the interim government period and submitted its report to parliament last Thursday (April 2). Committee chairman Zainul Abedin Faruk presented the report.
The report recommended scrapping four ordinances and advised against the immediate placement of 16 others—including the NHRC ordinance—as bills in parliament. It suggested that these ordinances be reconsidered in the future and brought back in the form of revised and strengthened laws.
