SC judges accountable to JS and challenged in the Supreme Court.

[safiullah]

Law Commission for making SC judges accountable to JS

This provision curtailed the legislature’s authority to make the judiciary accountable to the people’s representatives

The Law Commission, the lone body tasked to suggest the government on legal reforms, has recommended that the original constitutional provision of making the Supreme Court judges accountable to parliament be restored.

Article 96 of the 1972 constitution authorised the legislature, with a two-third meeting, even to impeach the apex court judges for misconducts and violating the constitution. The judges then were accountable to Jatiya Sangsad.

But military ruler Gen Ziaur Rahman, the BNP’s de facto founder, dropped the provision from the charter through military orders and instituted a new mechanism – the Supreme Judicial Commission, headed by the chief justice and two other senior judges.

This provision curtailed the legislature’s authority to make the judiciary accountable to the people’s representatives.

The Law Commission made such recommendation as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law Ministry earlier sought its opinion on the ways of reducing backlog of cases and expediting disposal of cases.

Headed by former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque, the commission in its report made at least 12 other recommendations that could change the country’s legal system.

Currently, over 32 lakh cases are pending with different courts.

The report was placed at the meeting of the parliamentary watchdog yesterday. The 10-member standing committee discussed the report and recommended that the Law Ministry should go for implementation of the commission’s suggestions in consultation with the chief justice.

“Everybody should understand that nobody is above law. Even if any of the honourable Supreme Court judges shows negligence in carrying out duties or commits gross misconduct or violates the code of conduct, he/she should be made accountable to Jatiya Sangsad. This provision, which was present in the original constitution, can be restored,” says the commission.

Mentioning that there were allegations of “massive corruption” against the bench officers of the Supreme Court, the commission said: “They should be transferred regularly and put under tough monitoring.”

On Wednesday, the commission sent the set of recommendations to the Parliament Secretariat.

“We have recommended that the law minister talk to the chief justice for the implementation of the recommendations to the extent possible,” Suranjit Sengupta, the watchdog chairman, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

He said the government should consult the chief justice as he had “stake” in it.

Empowering Parliament to impeach judges challenged

The government’s move to empower Parliament to impeach senior judges by amending Article 96 of the Constitution of Bangladesh has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
he apex court’s lawyer Md Yunus Ali Akand filed a writ petition on Sunday.

He told journalists, “The court has been moved seeking a ruling that the proposal to amend Article 96 of the Constitution is illegal.”

He also pleaded for an injunction on all activities regarding the government proposal.

The cabinet secretary and law secretary have been made the defendants in the rule.

“The Constitution has allowed the judges to act freely. But their freedom will be curtailed if Parliament is empowered to impeach judges by amending article 96,” Akand said.

“It is absolutely contradictory to the objective of separating the judiciary from the executive,” he continued.
In the 1972 Constitution, Article 96 allowed Parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges for proven offences or incapability by the vote of a two-thirds majority.

However, military ruler Ziaur Rahman later cancelled it and gave the power to a Supreme Judicial Council through the Fifth Amendment.

Later, the High court called the Fifth Amendment illegal, yet the article was not restored.

The issue of reviving Parliament’s authority came into focus after the Awami League took office in the last term.

In 2012, some MPs called for the removal of a High Court judge after a series of events centring the remark of the then speaker Abdul Hamid, who is now President.

The matter was also discussed when the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was underway, although the article was not restored.

The Law Commission on June 26 submitted a report making some recommendations to the parliamentary committee.

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on law ministry Suranjit Sengupta said on July 17, "Parliament cannot be sovereign if it cannot hold all branches (of the State) to account.

“We must amend Article 96 to ensure the sovereignty of Parliament."

 See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-rights/2014/jun/27/law-commission-making-sc-judges-accountable
http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2014/07/20/empowering-parliament-to-impeach-judges-challenged