Post Credit - Kazi Md. Rezwan Nabil
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Definition of Constitution
Constitution defines an aggregate
of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal
basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity and commonly determine
how that entity is to be governed.
Constitution has been variously
defined by different writers and scholars according to the varying conceptions
which they hold as to what a constitution should be. Some of them are provided
below-
1. “Constitution is the way of
life the state has chosen for itself.”- Aristotle.
2. “A Constitution may be said to
be a collection of principles according to which the powers of the government,
the rights of the government and relation between the two are adjusted.”- C F
Strong.
3. “Constitution is the aggregate
of laws and customs under which the life of the state goes on.”- Lord Bruce.
4. “The term constitution is used to denote all written and unwritten principles regulating the administration of the state.”- K.C Wheare and Hood Phillips.
Necessity of Constitution
A Constitution is necessary
because of the following reasons:
1. It is an important law of the
land. It determines the relationship of the citizens with the governments.
2. It lays down principles and
guidelines which are required for people belonging to different ethnic and
religious groups to live in harmony.
3. It specifies on how the
Government would be elected and who will have the power and the responsibility
to take important decisions.
4. It outlines the limits on the
power of the Government and tells us about the rights of the citizens.
5. It expresses the aspirations
of the people about creating a good society.
6. One of the things that make
the Constitution a really important document for a country is the fact that it
controls the transfer of power at the time of national emergencies etc.
Oldest Constitutions
There are some oldest
constitutions given below:
Constitution of United States –
June 21, 1788
Constitution of Norway – May 17,
1814
Constitution of Netherlands –
March 29, 1815
Constitution of Belgium –
February 7, 1831
Constitution of Denmark – June 5,
1849
Constitution of Argentina – May
1, 1853
Constitution of Canada – June 1,
1867
Constitution of Luxembourg –
October 17, 1868
Constitution of Tonga – November
4, 1875
The Constitution of Australia –
January 1, 1901
History of “Constitutional Development in Bangladesh”
11th March, 1972: Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman issued the Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order 1972, as
the President of newly independent Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh.
23rd March, 1972: The
Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh Order was promulgated as envisaged in the
Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order 1972.
This Order provided for
parliamentary form of government [Preamble of the Order] and constituted the
Constituent Assembly [Clause 7 of the Order] with the Members of National
Assembly (MNA’s) and East Pakistan Provincial Assembly (MPA’s) who were
elected, under the Legal Framework of President Yahiya Khan’s martial law, by
the people of East Pakistan in December 1970 and January 1971 for giving the
newly independent country a secular democratic Constitution.
The total Members elected as MNAs
and MPAs in December 1970 and January 1971 elections were 469 (169 MNAs and 300
MPAs). Among them 12 died in the meantime before the Constituent Assembly was
formed, two became Pakistani citizens, five were arrested under the Collaborator’s
Order, 46 were declared disqualified under the Constituent Assembly Order and
one went to Foreign Service.
The remaining 403 Members formed
the Constituent Assembly. Out of them, 400 Members belonged to the Awami
League, one (Surenjit Sen Gupta) belonged to the National Awami Party (NAP) and
two [Manbendra Narayan Larma commonly known as Santu Larma was one of them]
were Independents.
10th April, 1972: The
Constituent Assembly had its first meeting. In this session a Constitution
Drafting Committee consisting of 34 members (including Syed Nazrul Islam,
Tajuddin Ahmed and AHM Kamruzzaman) was formed under the Chairmanship of Dr
Kamal Hossain (the then Law Minister). The only woman member of the
Constitution Drafting Committee was Razia Banu, whereas the only opposition member
was Mr Surenjit Sen Gupta.
It should be noted that the first
written document, Proclamation of Independence, which is considered as the
first interim Constitution, was declared and adopted on 10th April 1971 giving retrospective effect from
26th March 1971.
17th April, 1972: The Drafting Committee had its first
meeting. In that meeting a resolution was adopted inviting proposals and
suggestions from all sections of the people. In response to this invitation, 98
memoranda were received.
10th June, 1972: The Draft
Constitution was approved, after the Drafting Committee had 74 meetings to
draft the Constitution.
11th October, 1972: The
last meeting of the committee was held where the full Draft Constitution was
finally approved.
12th October, 1972: The
Draft Constitution of 72 pages, containing 103 Articles was presented to the
Constitution Assembly, in its second session. On this day, Dr. Kamal Hossain
introduced the Draft Constitution as a Bill.
19th October, 1972 – 3rd
November, 1972: The Constituent Assembly had general discussion for seven
days in between these dates. At the first phase of general discussion Cabinet
members Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Khodker Mushtaq Ahmed, Monsur Ali,
Professor Yousuf Ali, AHM Kamruzzaman, Abdul Malik Ukil, Mizanur Rahman
Choudhury took part. The only opposition Member Surenjit Sen Gupta and
independent Member Manbendra Narayan Larma also took part in the discussion.
During this discussion, 163
amendments were proposed. Among those, 84 amendments were adopted of which 83
were moved by Awami League Members and one was by Surenjit Sen Gupta.
Interestingly, most of the amendments were relating to linguistic and
grammatical errors of the Bill.
4th November, 1972: The
third reading of the Bill was held and on the same day, the committee adopted
it with 65 amendments as the Constitution of Bangladesh.
14th November, 1972: The
hand-written Constitution, both Bengali original one and its corresponding
English translated one, was signed by the Members of the Constituent Assembly.
The only opposition member at that time didn’t sign the original hand-written
Constitution. At the time of the Constitution being adopted, the President and
Prime Minister were Justice Abu Sayed Chowdhury and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
respectively. The original hand written Constitution was of 93 pages.
16th December, 1972: The Constitution was given effect from the first anniversary of the ‘Victory day’ of Bangladesh.
Decorating Team Members of Bangladesh Constitution
The decorating team members behind this Constitution copy are:
Handwriting: A K M Abdur Rauf
Design: A group of artists
including Hashem Khan
and others.
Supervisor: Shilpacharja Zainul
Abedin.
Parchment work: Shah Syed Abu Shafi.
Constitution of Bangladesh
Constitution of Bangladesh is
divided into 1 Preamble, 11 parts, 7 Tafsils and 153 articles.
The 11 parts are:
Part
I: The Republic
Part
II: Fundamental principles of state policy
Part
III: Fundamental rights
Part
IV: The Executive
Part
V: The Legislature
Part
VI: The Judiciary
Part
VII: Elections
Part
VIII: The Comptroller and Auditor General
Part
IX: The Services of Bangladesh
Part
X: Amendment of the Constitution
Part
XI: Miscellaneous
Part no. IV, V, VI and IX are
divided into various chapters. They are provided below:
|
Part |
Chapter |
|
Part IV: The Executive |
I: The President II: The Prime Minister and The
Cabinet IIA: Non Party Care Taker
Government III: Local Government IV: The Defence Services V: The Attorney General |
|
Part V: The Legislature |
I: Parliament II: Legislative and Financial
Procedures III: Ordinance Making Power |
|
Part VI: The Judiciary |
I: The Supreme Court II: Subordinate Courts III: Administrative Tribunals |
|
Part IX: The Services of
Bangladesh |
I: Services II: Public Service Commissions |
q
Bangladesh is a unitary, independent, sovereign
Republic to be known as the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
q
The territory of the Republic shall comprise –
(a) The territories which
immediately before the Proclamation of Independence on the 26th day of March,
1971 constituted East Pakistan [The territories referred to as included
territories in the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1974, but excluding the
territories referred to as excluded territories in that Act]
(b) Such other territories as may
become included in Bangladesh.
q
The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but
the State shall ensure equal status and equal right in the practice of the
Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religions.
q
The national anthem of the Republic is the first
ten lines of “Amar Sonar Bangla”.
q
The national flag of the Republic shall consist
of a circle, coloured red throughout its area, resting on a green background.
q
The national emblem of the Republic is the
national flower Shapla (Nymphaea Nouchali) resting on water, having on
each side an ear of paddy and being surmounted by three connected leaves of
jute with two stars on each side of the leaves.
q
The state language of the Republic is Bangla.
q
The capital of the Republic is Dhaka and the
boundaries of the capital shall be determined by law.
q The four fundamental principles are:
a)
Nationalism
b) Socialism
c) Democracy
d) Secularism
q All citizens are equal before law and are
entitled to equal protection of law.
q
The President shall, as Head of State, take
precedence over all other persons in the State, and shall exercise the powers
and perform the duties conferred and imposed on him by this Constitution and by
any other law.
Amendments of Bangladeshi Constitution
|
Amendments |
Approved by President |
Summery of amendment content |
|
1st Amendment |
15th July, 1973 |
Ensure the trial of war criminals and other crimes against
humanity. |
|
2nd Amendment |
22th
September, 1973 |
Amended article no- 26,63,72 & 142. Also introduced
“State of Emergency” in case the social and economical life of the country
gets hampered. |
|
3rd Amendment |
27th November, 1974 |
Approval of Bangladesh-India Border Agreement and
provision of exchange of enclaves and sub-occupied lands as per agreement. |
|
4th Amendment |
25th January, 1975 |
Introduced a presidential system of government instead of
a parliamentary system of government and instead of multi-party politics, it
introduced one-party politics. |
|
5th Amendment |
6th April, 1979 |
“Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim” was added to the constitution
and legitimacy was given to all the activities of the military government
from 15th August 1975 to 5th April 1979. |
|
6th Amendment |
10th July, 1981 |
This amendment confirms the provision for the election of
the President from the post of Vice-President. |
|
7th Amendment |
10th November, 1986 |
This amendment approved all decrees, orders, directives
and ordinances of the Chief Martial Law Administrator enacted during the
period of martial law from March 24, 1982 to November 9, 1986. |
|
8th Amendment |
9th June, 1988 |
It amended paragraphs no-2, 3, 5, 30 & 100. Provision
was made to recognize “Islam” as the state religion and to establish
permanent benches of the High Court in six districts outside Dhaka. The name
of ‘Dacca’ was changed to ‘Dhaka’ and the name of ‘Bangali’ was changed to
‘Bangladeshi’ through this amendment. |
|
9th Amendment |
11th July, 1989 |
Conducting elections for the post of Vice-President at the
same time as the election of the President is restricted to two consecutive
terms for a person holding the office of President. |
|
10th Amendment |
12th June, 1990 |
It amended the Bengali interpretation of Article 123 (2)
of the Constitution regarding the election of the President within 180 days
before the expiration of the term of the President and to reserve 30 seats
for women in Parliament for another 10 years. |
|
11th Amendment |
10th August, 1991 |
The appointment of Chief Justice Sahabuddin Ahmed as the
Vice President was declared valid. The amendment passed a provision requiring
interim President Justice Sahabuddin Ahmed to return to the post of Chief
Justice. |
|
12th Amendment |
18th September,
1991 |
Re-established the parliamentary government in the country
after 17 years and abolished the post of Vice President. |
|
13th Amendment |
28th March, 1996 |
Provision for Caretaker Government to ensure free and fair
elections. |
|
14th Amendment |
17th May, 2004 |
The reserved women's seats were increased from 30 to 45.
The retirement age of Supreme Court judge was raised from 65 to 67 years.
Besides, provision was made to display portraits of the President and the
Prime Minister in the offices of the President and the Prime Minister and
portraits of the Prime Minister in government and semi-government, autonomous
organizations and Bangladesh missions abroad. |
|
15th Amendment |
3rd July, 2011 |
Restored secularism and religious freedom to the constitution
and added the principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism
as state principles. The hero of the country's war of independence Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman was also recognized as the father of the nation. It abolished
the caretaker government system and increased the number of reserved seats
for women in the National Assembly from 45 to 50. Article 7 (a) and 6 (b)
were added to the constitution after Article 7 to prevent the seizure of
state power in an unconstitutional manner. |
|
16th Amendment |
17th September, 2014 |
This amendment was passed to restore the power to remove
judges to Parliament by reinstating Article 96 of the Constitution of 1972. |
|
17th Amendment |
8th July, 2018 |
It carried the proposal to uphold the rule of electing
women MPs for another 25 years |
34 Members of
Constitution Drafting Committee
1. Kamal
Hossain (MNA- Dhaka-9)
2. Md.
Lutfor Rahman (MNA- Rangpur-4)
3. Abu
Sayeed (MNA- Pabna-5)
4. M
Abdur Rahim (MPA-Dinajpur-7)
5. M Amir-ul
Islam (MNA- Kushtia-1)
6. Mohammad
Nurul Islam Manjur (MNA- Bakerganj-3)
7. Abdul
Muntakim Chowdhury (MNA- Sylhet-5)
8. Khatish
Chandra (MPA-Bakerganj-15)
9. Suranjit
Sengupta (MNA- Sylhet-2)
10. Syed
Nazrul Islam (MNA- Mymensingh-17)
11. Tajuddin
Ahmad (MNA- Dhaka-5)
12. Khandakar
Mushtaq Ahmed (MNA- Cumilla -8)
13. AHM
Qamaruzzaman (MNA- Rajshahi-6)
14. Abdul
Mamin Talukder (MNA- Pabna-3)
15. Abdur
Rouf (MNA- Rangpur-11)
16. Mohammad
Baitullah (MNA- Rajshahi -3)
17. Barrister
Badal Rashid
18. Khandaker
Abdul Hafiz (MNA- Jessore 7)
19. Shaukat
Ali Khan (MNA- Tangail-2)
20. Md
Humayun Khalid
21. Asaduzzaman
Khan (MPA- Jessore-10)
22. A.K.
Mosharraf Hossain Akhand (MNA-Mymensingh-6)
23. Abdul
Momin
24. Shamsuddin
Molla (MNA-Faridpur-4)
25. Sheikh
Abdur Rahman (MNA-Khulna-2)
26. Fakir
Sahab Uddin Ahmed
27. Khurshed
Alam (MNA-Cumilla-7)
28. Sirajul
Haque (MNA-Cumilla-4)
29. Dewan
Abu Abbas (MNA-Cumilla-5)
30. Abdur
Rashid (MNA-Noakhali-)
31. Hafez
Habibur Rahman (MNA-Cumilla-12)
32. Nurul
Islam Chowdhury (MPA-Chattragram-6)
33. Muhammad
Khaled (MPA-Chattragram—5)
34. Begum
Razia Bano (women's seats, National Assembly)
34 Members of
Constitution Drafting Committee
1. Kamal
Hossain (MNA- Dhaka-9)
2. Md.
Lutfor Rahman (MNA- Rangpur-4)
3. Abu
Sayeed (MNA- Pabna-5)
4. M
Abdur Rahim (MPA-Dinajpur-7)
5. M Amir-ul
Islam (MNA- Kushtia-1)
6. Mohammad
Nurul Islam Manjur (MNA- Bakerganj-3)
7. Abdul
Muntakim Chowdhury (MNA- Sylhet-5)
8. Khatish
Chandra (MPA-Bakerganj-15)
9. Suranjit
Sengupta (MNA- Sylhet-2)
10. Syed
Nazrul Islam (MNA- Mymensingh-17)
11. Tajuddin
Ahmad (MNA- Dhaka-5)
12. Khandakar
Mushtaq Ahmed (MNA- Cumilla -8)
13. AHM
Qamaruzzaman (MNA- Rajshahi-6)
14. Abdul
Mamin Talukder (MNA- Pabna-3)
15. Abdur
Rouf (MNA- Rangpur-11)
16. Mohammad
Baitullah (MNA- Rajshahi -3)
17. Barrister
Badal Rashid
18. Khandaker
Abdul Hafiz (MNA- Jessore 7)
19. Shaukat
Ali Khan (MNA- Tangail-2)
20. Md
Humayun Khalid
21. Asaduzzaman
Khan (MPA- Jessore-10)
22. A.K.
Mosharraf Hossain Akhand (MNA-Mymensingh-6)
23. Abdul
Momin
24. Shamsuddin
Molla (MNA-Faridpur-4)
25. Sheikh
Abdur Rahman (MNA-Khulna-2)
26. Fakir
Sahab Uddin Ahmed
27. Khurshed
Alam (MNA-Cumilla-7)
28. Sirajul
Haque (MNA-Cumilla-4)
29. Dewan
Abu Abbas (MNA-Cumilla-5)
30. Abdur
Rashid (MNA-Noakhali-)
31. Hafez
Habibur Rahman (MNA-Cumilla-12)
32. Nurul
Islam Chowdhury (MPA-Chattragram-6)
33. Muhammad
Khaled (MPA-Chattragram—5)
34. Begum
Razia Bano (women's seats, National Assembly)
Controversial Issues
Some controversial issues occurred due to the amendments.
They are:
q The constitution's declaration of socialism is
at odds with Bangladesh's free market economy. It conflicts with a large
section of the Bangladeshi society and electorate. Two political parties which
governed the country- the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiyo Party- are
staunchly opposed to socialism and advocate pro-capitalist policies.
q The
constitution has a paradox of including both secularism and a state religion.
q The
constitution declares "the people of Bangladesh shall be known as
Bangalees as a nation", which discriminates against the country's significant
non-Bengali communities.
q According
to Article 70, Members of Parliament do not have a free vote in the Jatiyo
Sangsad. MPs will lose their seats if they vote against their party. This bars
the Jatiyo Sangsad from removing a prime minister from office through no
confidence motions.
q The
High Court cannot have branches other than in the capital. This has caused
burdens for litigants and the judiciary across the country.
q The
90-day deadline for MPs’ absence has been exploited by opposition parties to
enforce opposition boycotts. MPs lose their seats if they are absent for more
than 90 days. Opposition MPs often attend sessions only as the deadline nears.
Proposals have called for the deadline to be reduced to 30 days or less.
q In Westminster systems, the dissolution of parliament takes place when a general election is called. The fifteenth amendment in 2011 allowed parliament to continue during an election period. Critics have questioned whether a free and fair election can be held with sitting MPs etc.