Dhaka plans a tough law similar to SPA

The Bangladesh government is planning to enact a law similar to the Special Powers Act (SPA), the country's most controversial legislation which is now in the process of being scrapped.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government had pledged to repeal the SPA, introduced by the post-independence Awami League government, in its manifesto for the last general election in October.

All the successive governments blamed the Awami League for making the tough law but none of them annulled it as they felt the law was necessary for governance.

Officials said yesterday the Bangladesh Law Commission (BLC) is due to submit its recommendations on the enactment of the planned law to the government by May 15.

The commission has been asked to insert a clause in the new law so that the government can detain anyone without trial.

The SPA drew flak for having such a clause that empowered the government to detain anyone for a maximum of 120 days without reason. However, the High Court ruled against such detention in almost all cases.

The proposed law will also have clauses similar to those of the SPA on sabotage, smuggling, black marketing, and issues related to economic offences.

"We have nearly finalised a report on the SPA and Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (another controversial law)," Naimuddin Ahmed, a member of the commission, said. The SPA was branded a 'black law' by human rights organisations and political parties alike.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to set a time limit for trial and disposal of civil and criminal cases to ease the backlog. "It will soon send a specific reference to the commission for its recommendations in this regard," said Law Minister, Moudud Ahmed.

It is seeking reforms to the legal process to quicken the disposal of cases. The law minister and the commission at a joint meeting on Tuesday discussed ways for faster disposal of cases.

It was of the view that amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure Code and other relevant laws were required to achieve that goal. More than one million cases are now pending with the lower courts across the country.

The commission's member, Naimuddin Ahmed, said: "We had an informal meeting where we discussed why trials are often delayed. We have said we need specific references from the government to find out ways."

Sources said the Law Ministry will soon send to the commission a specific proposal in this regard. Once the commission scrutinises its aspects and submits recommendation, the government will frame an amendment bill and seek the cabinet's approval for placing it in the Jatiya Sangsad.