Criminal Justice in Bangladesh
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Criminal Justice in Bangladesh A best practise Handbook for members of the criminal justice system Final Draft November 2015 Justice Sector Facility UNDP Bangladesh 2 (Title Page) Criminal Justice in Bangladesh A best practise Handbook for the criminal justice system This Handbook was produced on behalf of the Justice Sector Facility (JSF). Written by Greg Moran of Greg Moran and Associates email: [email protected] Research and invaluable assistance: Munira Zaman Arafat Khan Design and layout: The JSF holds the copyright in this Handbook. Permission to reprint all or any parts of the Handbook is required from the JSF. Author’s note The early parts of this Handbook are based on human rights and restorative justice related materials previously written by the author for a wide range of human rights related projects over many years. Some of these have been based on texts whose original sources have been lost over time. Where possible, references have been provided but many of the references have been lost over time. Criminal Justice in Bangladesh - A best practise Handbook for members of the criminal justice system (Final Draft - November 2015) 3 Table of contents Key Words ................................................................................................................................. 6 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 9 1. About the Handbook.......................................................................................................... 10 2. Overview ........................................................................................................................... 11 3. Key role players in criminal justice .................................................................................... 11 a. The Bangladesh Police ................................................................................................. 11 b. The Courts or Judiciary ................................................................................................ 12 c. Prosecutors ................................................................................................................... 24 d. National Legal Aid Services Organisation (NLASO) .................................................... 25 e. Prisons .......................................................................................................................... 26 f. Lawyers ......................................................................................................................... 27 g. Victims and witnesses .................................................................................................. 27 4. Legal framework ................................................................................................................ 29 a. The Constitution............................................................................................................ 29 b. The Penal Code, 1860 .................................................................................................. 29 c. The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898 ............................................................ 30 d. Evidence Act, 1872 ....................................................................................................... 30 e. Children Act, 2013 ........................................................................................................ 31 f. Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013..................................................... 31 g. Police Act, 1861, Police Regulations (1943) and Prisons Act, 1894 ............................ 33 h. Decisions of the Supreme Court (Appellate and High Court Divisions) ....................... 33 i. Police ‘Guidelines’ on Arrest and Detention .................................................................. 33 5. Human rights and criminal justice ..................................................................................... 34 a. International and regional instruments ......................................................................... 34 b. The Bill of Rights in the Constitution ............................................................................ 37 c. Protection in other laws ................................................................................................ 40 d. Why is it important to respect the rights of victims, suspects and the accused? ......... 40 6. A note on restorative justice .............................................................................................. 41 Part 2 – The criminal justice process....................................................................................... 44 1. The basic procedure in all criminal cases ......................................................................... 44 2. The procedure in cases involving children – the Children Act, 2013 ................................ 46 a. Probation Officers ......................................................................................................... 46 b. Child Affairs Desks and the Child Affairs Police Officer (CAPO) ................................. 47 c. Children’s Courts .......................................................................................................... 47 Criminal Justice in Bangladesh - A best practise Handbook for members of the criminal justice system (Final Draft - November 2015) 4 d. Diversion ....................................................................................................................... 48 e. Protecting the rights of the child during criminal cases ................................................ 49 f. Crimes created by the Children Act ............................................................................... 54 3. The start of the process – the first report .......................................................................... 54 a. First report of a cognisable offence .............................................................................. 55 b. First report of a non-cognisable offence ....................................................................... 55 c. Recording of witness statements .................................................................................. 56 d. Best practise – interviewing victims of sexual violence and child victims .................... 56 4. Arrest ................................................................................................................................. 57 a. Arrest without a warrant ................................................................................................ 57 b. Arrest with a warrant ..................................................................................................... 60 c. The use of force ............................................................................................................ 60 d. Use of restraints............................................................................................................ 60 e. Search and seizure on arrest ....................................................................................... 61 f. Ascertaining the age of an arrested person .................................................................. 61 5. What happens after arrest? ............................................................................................... 61 a. Evidence of excessive force during arrest .................................................................... 61 b. The right to legal representation ................................................................................... 62 c. Bail ................................................................................................................................ 62 d. Interviewing suspects, admissions and confessions .................................................... 64 e. Search with a search warrant ....................................................................................... 67 f. Search without a search warrant ................................................................................... 67 g. Test Identification Parades ........................................................................................... 68 h. Diversion options for the police .................................................................................... 68 i. Treatment of people in police custody ........................................................................... 71 j. Release if no evidence .................................................................................................. 73 6. The 24-hour rule and the first appearance in Court .......................................................... 73 a. Bail ................................................................................................................................ 74 b. Remands in police custody ........................................................................................... 74 c. Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013 .................................................... 75 d. Best practise – victims and witnesses .......................................................................... 75 7. Framing of the charges and plea ...................................................................................... 76 a. Framing the charges ....................................................................................................