The judicial framework of Bangladesh draws its basis from laws that originated during British rule to guarantee just treatment of citizens. Major issues plague the judicial system of Bangladesh, including inefficiency, corruption, and harsh conditions. The accused must face unbearably long pre-arrest detention periods alongside judicial confusion that creates difficulties for their families during their dealings with the bureaucratic system.
A significant challenge lies in the delayed distribution of justice because the Supreme Court shows that there are currently 4.2 million pending cases in 2023. The normal length of cases spans from five to 10 years while undertrial prisoners generally remain incarcerated longer than their later awarded sentences. The long duration of delayed justice proves that denial of justice occurs when justice remains postponed.
A person accused of a crime in Bangladesh remains inside prison cells for extensive periods before attorneys or courts can provide a formal trial. Human Rights Watch conducted a research which showed undertrial detainees make up 80% of all prisoners according to their findings. These arrested individuals must remain in detention with no charge filed due to the outdated Special Powers Act, 1974. Prison life becomes punishment for the accused before they receive a sentence.
The Bangladeshi legal framework, through its various laws, exists to shield defendants, yet law enforcement combined with judiciary members systematically violate these safeguards when handling cases. The Special Powers Act, 1974 stands among the laws which face the most abuse along with other legal provisions.
Through The Special Powers Act, 1974 the government maintains power to detain individuals up to 120 days before they receive a court trial. Originally designed for emergency situations only, this law has become a tool to suppress political adversaries along with media personnel and activists across the nation through its widespread improper application. Detainees under this law suffer from lack of adequate evidence which violates their basic rights to fundamental protections.
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 includes rules about providing bail while specifying judicial procedures together with constitutional rights for accused persons. Police corruption leads to the wrongful devaluation of detainees through denied bail despite inadequate legal reasons for detention which results in extended pretrial confinement.
Law enforcement can arrest persons who appear to be participating in cognizable offenses as per Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The law enforcement agencies use this allowance to arrest and detain people against proper legal grounds. Moreover many people detained face arrest when there is no actual factual proof linking them to a crime or because of personal vendettas and political interests or because of payments. Numerous instances of unlawful detention along with custodial torture and coerced confessions exist due to this section's misuse. The High Court released guidelines in 2003 to minimize Section 54 abuse although police forces and lower courts have not followed them.
In the Constitution, protection against arbitrary detention and unlawful imprisonment is clearly stated in Article 33. The practice of law enforcement diverges from legal protections which prevents detainees from achieving effective challenges of their detention.
Jail life in Bangladesh exists as an absolute daily horror
Multiple law enforcement errors caused by improper application has resulted in higher rates of unfair arrests together with incorrect detentions and legal system failures. Special laws in Bangladesh led to the arrest of 45% of people who received detention based on reports found by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) to be politically motivated or fabricated.
Jail life in Bangladesh exists as an absolute daily horror. The poor prison conditions of overcrowding and unhygienic environment transform detention into a life-threatening situation. Irrational overpopulation in the prison system reaches 90,000 prisoners today even though it was intended to serve 40,000 which creates horrendous living environments for inmates. Due to overcrowding, more than 12,000 prisoners reside at Dhaka Central Jail which should support only 4,500 inmates.
Prison authorities along with extreme malnutrition and insufficient medical treatment subject inmates to cruel treatment. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) released its findings which revealed more than 70 cases of deaths experienced by prisoners during custodial detention since 2023 because of both torture methods and inadequate medical treatment. Current detainees share accounts about undergoing electricity torture along with brutal physical abuse and coerced admission of guilt during their time behind bars.
The judicial system especially burdens the poor population because they lack the means to hire legal professionals. Research conducted by TIB revealed that 62% of jailed persons needed to give financial payments to police and court officials for obtaining bail release or faster judicial processing. Wealthy people together with powerful figures can shorten their legal process through financial resources while poor defendants stay endlessly entangled in court proceedings.
Arrested defendants experience the first challenge when their family discovers about their imprisonment. The family members receive information about arrests usually only after a significant delay has passed. The process of obtaining information about arrests can take days before family members discover the news. After learning about it they need to traverse many official obstacles to contact their relatives in prison.
Access to prison facilities is tightly controlled with strict guidelines and unauthorized expenses might be expected during visits. Visits and communication between inmates and their families require corrupt prison officials to accept unlawful payments starting from Tk500 up to Tk5,000. People from rural communities must suffer through lengthy journeys as well as degrading experiences to get short visits with their incarcerated relatives.
Bangladesh fails to provide the fundamental right of phone calls that many legal systems worldwide grant to their detainees. Detainees in Bangladesh experience total separation from their families because a study conducted by Odhikar revealed that more than 85% of criminal inmates cannot make phone calls. Standards for phone calls are extremely constrained for suspects who face political crime or so-called controversial charges.
When laws are improperly used, society turns against justice becoming an instrument of control which undermines equity
The Bangladeshi working class would face tremendous challenges due to the unreasonable expense of pursuing legal matters. Becoming legally represented through lawyers plus giving cash to individuals in charge of processing makes the total costs escalate rapidly. Numerous families choose to sell their land properties and get loans and use all available life savings to secure a fair trial for their arrested relatives. According to research by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), 68% of families who support the arrestee need to spend more than Tk100,000 on legal costs thus driving them into severe financial problems.
The total hardship experienced consists of both psychological burden and financial burden. The absence of parents causes children to grow up without their family and spouses need to survive alone while elderly parents face permanent anxiety. Social exclusion affects families of accused persons because of the stigma which prevents them from accessing support from their community networks. Evil circumstances in Chattogram forced a woman out of her village after her husband received wrongful theft accusations from powerful figures who also enacted pressure against her.
The painful experiences of accused persons and their relatives prove that Bangladesh must initiate immediate changes to its judicial and legislative structures. Quick-track courts established for undertrial prisoners would work to decrease judicial delays and stop unnecessary detention periods. Improving prison standards while reducing prison population size as well as establishing better healthcare capabilities represents pressing actions which need immediate attention. Prison department must enable families to meet their inmates without arbitrary restrictions while officials must bear responsibility for blocking inmate visits. The judiciary along with prison institutions require a detailed anti-corruption management framework to establish. The system requires more funding allocation for public defenders to deliver fair defense services to those facing criminal charges. The bail process needs improvement to make detention periods shorter thus reducing unnecessary detainment. Human rights organizations that take a strong supervisory role help avoid violations of rights that occur in detention centres.
When laws are improperly used, society turns against justice becoming an instrument of control which undermines equity. The widespread suffering in the justice system includes long delays of unfair processes and cruel incarceration facilities together with heavy financial costs and emotional distress. Urgent justice system reforms must happen to prevent the current situation where justice exists only for some rather than fulfilling its right of access for everyone.
Tareq Abedin Siraji is a freelance contributor.
