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    Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2): 34-36

Ethics in the Judiciary System of Bangladesh

Mehedi Imam,
 
Managing Director, Adhuna Bangladesh Limited

Abstract
In Bangladesh, demand for judicial independence in practice has been a much debated issue and 
the demand is fulfilled but expectation of people is not only limited to have an independent 
judiciary but to have an impartial system and cadre of people, which will administer justice 
rationally being free from fear or force. The independence of judiciary and the impartial judicial 
practice are related concepts, one cannot sustain without the other and here existence as well as 
the need of practicing impartiality is well recognized. But  the  art  of  practicing  impartiality  does 
not  develop  overnight  as  it’s  related  to development    of    one’s    attitude.    It    takes    a 
considerable    time    resulting    from understanding, appreciating and acknowledging the moral 
values, ethics and professional  responsibility.  The  judiciary  includes  Judges,  Advocates  mostly 
who  are expected to demonstrate a high level of moral values and impartiality towards people 
seeking justice and ‘rule of law’. This is true that bench officers and clerks are also part of the 
process to ensure rule of law with same level of participation by the law enforcing agencies such as 
police. However the paper includes only those who either join judiciary as Judge/Magistrate or 
Advocate to explore level and extent of ethical knowledge they receive being key role players of 
the system.

Introduction
The   people   at   the   bench   are   individuals   whom   we   expect   to   practice   impartiality   in 
administering justice without being pressurized by any restriction, influence, inducement, 
threat  or  influence.  The vast majority of  judges  and  judicial  officers  are appointed from either 
the members of legal profession with long professional standing or the law graduates by way of 
judicial service examination intake.

Judicial Officers/Judges
• Judicial   Administration   Training   Institute   (JATI)   arranges   for   training   of 
persons   appointed   in   the   judicial   service,   lawyers   and   some   other professionals 
connected  with  the  judicial  system  in  order  to  increase their professional efficiency.

• The  Judicial  Administration  Training  Institute  (JATI)  runs  a  60  Day  Basic 
Course   for   newly   appointed   Assistant   Judges,   21   Day   Courses   (and sometimes, 3 day 
short courses) for Senior Assistant Judges, Joint District Judges and District Judges.

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    Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2): 34-36

• The  curriculum  for  the  "Basic  Course"  does  not  include  any  lecture  on ethics 
or professional responsibility.

• But,   the   curriculum   for   Judicial   Administration   Training   Course   for   the 
District and Session Judges have a module on "Judicial Ethics and Code of Conduct  of  Judicial 
Officers".

Advocates
• As  per  Rule  10  of  The  Bangladesh  Legal  Practitioners  and  Bar  Council Rules 1972, 
the functions of the Bangladesh Bar Council includes, is to 

 admit persons as Advocates on its roll;

 hold examinations for purposes of admission;

 remove Advocates from such roll;

 lay  down  standard  of  professional  conduct  and etiquette  for
Advocates;

 entertain  and  determine  cases  of  misconduct  against  Advocates on its 
roll and to order punishment in such cases;

 promote legal education etc.
• As per Bangladesh Bar Council, every person shall, before being admitted as  an  Advocate, 
pass  a  written  examination,  viva voce ‐  and  a  vocational training course of approx. 7 weeks.
• The syllabus for the written examination for enrolment includes a topic, "Rules    of 
Professional   Etiquette"   which   is   examined   by   assessing   a candidate's knowledge on 
Bangladesh Bar Council Canons of Professional Conduct  and  Etiquette.  Canons  of  Professional 
Conduct  and  Etiquette states  about  an  Advocate's  duty  towards  the  Court,  his/her  clients, 
colleague advocates and towards the public generally.
• These  Canons  were  framed  in  exercise  of  the  power  conferred  on  the Bangladesh Bar 
Council by section 48(q) of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act 1965 and are crucial for 
any legal practitioners of Bangladesh as they (Advocates) are expected to discharge certain high 
duties in the society.
• According to Bar Council Enrolment Examination Policy, every candidate is expected to 
be familiar with these canons and is examined by way of answering a given hypothetical problem 
of ethical conflict situation. But this is simply not enough to ensure the target result of having an 
overall ethical and professionally responsible legal profession.
• Every successful candidate who have passed the written examination and viva voce,‐  would 
need to go through a compulsory training course known as   Bar   Vocational   Course   (BVC)   to 
get   a   Call   to   the   Bar   and   the 'certificate'.  The  BVC  is  conducted  by  the  Legal  Education 
and  Training Institute (LETI) of Bangladesh Bar Council. Within a span of 7 weeks, the students 
of   BVC   have   approximately   80 84  c‐ lasses  and   unfortunately, only   3   classes   (each   with 
approx.   one  hour  duration)  are  allocated  to have  a  discussion  on  the  topic  of  Professional 
 Ethics.   The   discussion   is   of   general   type   and   there   is   no   specific   syllabus   available   for 
 those  sessions.   
  
    Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2010; 1(2): 34-36

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Observation
    
In  a  bid  to  understand  the  level  of  professional  ethics  we  can  explore  the  answers  of  the 
 following   questions   that   are   directly linked   to   ethics   and   we   have   to   take   note   that   the 
 existing   legal   education   system   do   not   teach   the   law   students   or   graduates   te   ethics   or 
 professional  responsibility.   There  is  no  conceptual  framework  that  to  be  a  good  lawyer  a 
 student   needs   to   learn   and   develop   good   ethics   and   as   such,   there   is   no   subject   called 
 legal  ethics  in  the  official  curriculum  of  any  of  the  law  degree  of  our  country.  

1
•  Do  the  judges  get  any  systematic  training  during  their  process  of  making  to  build  up 

 a  state  of  mind  or  attitude  whereby  they  become  committed  to  uphold  the  moral  and 
 ethical  values  which  help  them  to  ensure  the  rule  of  law?   
2

• What  level  of  care  are  our  legal  professional  bodies  and  the  legal  education  system  is 
 providing  to  produce  a  lawyer  or  a  law  graduate  to  practice  and  appreciate  the  ethics 
 to  ensure  the  ‘rule  of  law’?   

  
Conclusion   

The   need   for   independent   judiciary   is   no   doubt   a   cornerstone   of   democratic   practice   all 
 over  the  world  and  in  Bangladesh,  demand  for  judicial  independence  in  practice  has  been 
 a  much debated ‐  issue  among  policy  reformers,  democratic  philosophers  and  legal  academics 
 for   a   long   time   and   it   has   been   achieved   so   far,   though   there   are   still   some   conflicts. 
 Many  a  people  have  raised  this  issue  at  various  national  levels  and  demanded  a  positive 
 change  to  ensure  independence  of  judiciary  at  the  earliest  but  expectation  of  common  men 
 is   not   only  limited  to   have  an  independent   judiciary  but   also,   to   have  an  impartial   one, 
 which  will  administer  justice  rationally  being  free  from  fear  or  force.   
The  independence  of  judiciary  and  the  impartial  judicial  practice  are  related  concepts,  one 
 cannot   sustain   without   the   other.   The   art   of   practicing   impartiality   does   not   develop 
 overnight   rather   it   results   from   understanding,   appreciating   and   acknowledging   the   moral 
 values,   ethics   and   professional   responsibility   over   a   considerable   period   of   time.   It  is 
basically a question of developing an attitude.   
In  developing  that  attitude,  there  is  a  need  for  the  development  of  an  ethical  framework  in 
 our  entire  legal  and  judicial  arena  and  for  which  there  is  no  other  alternative  but  raising 
 the   knowledge   of   our   legal   and   judicial   professionals   with   regard   to   ethics,   professional 
 responsibility   and   accountability.   Ensuring   of   such   knowledge   will   help   the   society   with 
 long  time  benefit  in  general  and  particularly  for  the  legal  and  judicial professionals.  

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