Bangladesh News

The president yesterday promulgated Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 completing the legal process of separating the judiciary from the executive.

“President Iajuddin Ahmed has approved the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 for separation of the judiciary,” said a communiqué from Bangabhaban.

Attorney General barrister Fida M Kamal told UNB over cellphone that he would submit the Ordinance before the full hierarchy of the Supreme Court today to meet the latest deadline.

The long-awaited ordinance to amend the century-old Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for separating the magistracy from the executive control was earlier endorsed by the council of advisors of the caretaker government.

Now, the promulgation of the ordinance completed the entire process of separating the judiciary from the executive in compliance with the Supreme Court edicts given seven years ago.

Earlier, the present caretaker government had issued four rules relating to the Judicial Service Commission and its regulating mechanisms as per the Supreme Court directives in the landmark judgment in the Masdar Hossain case.

On February 1, the Supreme Court granted the government 11 days to promulgate the CrPC amendment ordinance while hearing two contempt-of-court cases against 13 government officials including four top secretaries for “distorting” the SC directives and “impeding” the process of implementation of separation of the judiciary.

Since the delivery of judgment for separating the judiciary from the executive by the Supreme Court in December 1999, none of the successive governments fulfilled the constitutional mandate. Rather, the past governments delayed the process by extending the time repeatedly on different excuses.