Bangladesh News

The Law Commission can hardly function properly as most of the positions including that of the chairman and a member have been left unfilled for more than seven months.

Aside from the two key positions, ten out of thirteen official positions of the commission have been vacant, worsening the situation, said sources.

The chairman position has been vacant since December 5 of 2007 when the term of then chairman Justice Mustafa Kamal expired.

The term of one of the two members of the commission expired on February 22 this year and that position has not been filled either.

The commission’s lone remaining member Justice Md Sirajul Islam is currently running the functions of the commission as its acting chairman.

For the past seven months, no one was appointed for the vacant posts of a chief research officer, two senior research officers and two translation officers.

When The Daily Star contacted the commission’s Acting Chairman Justice Md Sirajul Islam for his observation on the situation, he declined to make any comment.

Former High Court judge AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury said the government should immediately take steps to appoint chairman, member and other officials for the Law Commission to make it more active and functional.

“Law commissions in different countries across the world including Britain and India are highly dignified and powerful since they have huge manpower and financial and logistic support. In England, the judges in the House of Lords discharge functions of the Law Commission to update and modify existing laws and to prepare drafts of new laws,” he said adding, “The 100 to 150 year-old laws of Bangladesh, enacted by the British rulers, should also be updated.”

“Even though a more active and functional commission is crucial for updating some important laws of the country, it appears that the government isn’t at all concerned about the issues within The Law Commission,” Justice Chowdhury said.

As per section 5 of the Law Commission Act, 1996, the commission consists of a chairman and two members. Under the law, the government has the power to increase the number of its members once deemed necessary.

The chairman and members of the commission hold their respective offices for a term of three years from the date of their appointments.

According to the law, the government may reappoint the chairman or a member on expiry of their term.

The officials of the commission are chosen from the judicial cadre to work on deputation, sources said adding that the surroundings of the commission office located on the Old High Court premises are so appalling that these new officials, soon after their joining, start looking for opportunities elsewhere.

One of the officials said besides finding it an unappealing place to work at, these officials get frustrated when they do not get the necessary logistics in the office. “Even the Internet connection used to be funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to the commission office has been disconnected since February 28 this year.”

The Law Commission is a research-oriented institution, but the research work is being hampered due to inadequate workforce and poor logistics, he observed.