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Efforts regarding Reform of the UN Security Council

For quite some time there have been moves to undermine the anachronistic and controversial veto powers that are enjoyed in the United Nations Security Council by its five permanent members- China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States- all nuclear-weapon States.  The veto power originated from Article 27 of the Charter of the United Nations. It states that – (a) each member of the Security Council shall have a vote, (b) decisions of the Security Council on procedural m

Conflict of laws over consent for DNA test 8

Deoxyribonucleic Acid - DNA profiling is increasingly used for human identification in the legal proceedings of many nations. This technology is very useful such as the identification of criminals, or missing persons, or about an issue of parentage. There are several options of using DNA evidence both in civil and criminal matters particularly in determining genetic relationship or the identification of paternity/maternity or of dead bodies, resolving issues concerning the legitimacy of

Fundamentalism, Militancy - a need for a participatory policy

Over the last three decades we have watched with anxiety the use of indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among the masses or fear to achieve a religious or political aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peace time or in war against non-combatants - mostly civilians and neutral military personnel. The term terrorism is often used with the connotation of something that is "morally wrong". Governments and non-state groups use the term

Hammurabi’s Code of Law: an ancient legal system

Introduction: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Today, this may seem a rule of the barbarians, but this was indeed one of the written laws in Babylon in King Hammurabi’s day. In those days, Babylon had quite an advanced culture. Babylon is the most famous city in ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq, 60 miles southwest of Baghdad. The city owes its fame (or notoriety) to the many references the Bible makes to it. Aside from biblical references

Personal Punishment under Insurance Act-2010 disproportionate

With the passage of time, there are many insures in the market to cater to the demand of the time. Regrettably enough, we don’t have required coverage and diversification in the sector. To top it all, one American company is doing very well while our local companies are falling behind. Albeit in face of so many players in the market and unemployment, many bona fide persons are taking jobs in this sector. In our society, the profession in the sector is not a respected one; as many insurers

Law news
School banking acts can transact in ‘Shikkha Bima’

Transactions involving the 'Bangabandhu Education Insurance' can be made through school banking accounts from now on, Bangladesh Bank-BB has said in a circular on September 19. The insurance regulator -- Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority-IDRA -- has recently launched the 'Bangabandhu Shikkha Bima' or Bangabandhu Education Insurance to mark the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Presently, the state-owned life insurer Jiban Bima Corporation

HCD asks ACC to probe Rajarbagh Pir Dillur

The High Court Division-HCD has ordered the Anti Corruption Commission to investigate the assets and bank accounts of Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif and its religious leader or Pir Dillur Rahman. It also directed the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime-CTTC unit of police to look into Dillur and his followers for possible links to militancy. The panel of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the orders along with a set of directives after hearing on a writ petition file

Include Bangabandhu's Mar 7 speech in textbooks: HCD

The High Court Division-HCD, has directed the Government to include Bangabandhu's March 7 speech in the school, college, and university textbooks so that the young generation can learn about the significance of the historic oration. The HCD, on September 8, asked the Government to include the speech, through the involvement of an expert committee. The expert committee will determine how Bangabandhu's March 7 speech will be included in the textbooks, Deputy Attorney General Abdullah-Al-Ma

Graft suspects have right to travel abroad: HCD

The High Court Division-HCD has observed that restricting or interfering with citizen's free movement because of "arbitrary or whimsical desires" of the Government or state authorities is unconstitutional. The HCD Bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman made this observation in the 12-page full text of one of its verdicts, which was released on April 3. Following a writ petition, the HCD Bench had delivered this verdict on March 16 saying that a specific

Trial of cases under DSA: Cyber Tribunals set up in 8 divisions

The Government has set up Cyber Tribunals in all eight Divisions of the country in order to hold trials of cybercrimes related cases including those filed under the Digital Security Act. Cases are filed under this law mainly for spreading rumours, creating confusion, tarnishing image, defamation and deteriorating law and order situation by using online platforms. Earlier, there was one cyber tribunal in Dhaka for trying cases filed under the Information and Communication Technology Act. The Law

BDLT holds discusion on Alternative Dispute Resolution

Bangladesh Legal Times-BDLT on 29th of April, 2017 organised a discussion on Alternative Dispute Resolution-ADR and its perspective and challenges in Bangladesh at the auditorium of London School of Legal Studies-South in the city. The Hon’ble Justice of the High Court Division-HCD of the Supreme Court Mr. Justice Sayed Refaat Ahmed was present and graced the occasion as the key-note Speaker. While discussing the key-note paper Mr. Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed focused on various possible aspe

Corporate
Intellectual Property Rights in the Time of Corona

Background:  While the first case of the notorious coronavirus disease (Covid-19) was reported in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019 it took only two months to spread all over the world. First year of COVID  19 pandemic already caused the death of around 3 (three) million people all over the world. However, medical science has shown unprecedented swiftness to come up with a vaccine for COVID 19. According to the World Health Organization, till now there are 214 Covid-19 vaccine project

Robi declared 3% interim cash dividend

Robi, the second largest mobile operator in the country, on April 08 declared a 3% interim cash dividend for its shareholders, financials ended on December 31, 2020. The record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend is set on May 2 later this year. Meanwhile, the earnings per share-EPS of the company stood at Tk0.07 in three months (January-March '21) this year, which was Tk0.33 ended on December 31, 2020. The operator disclosed the first quarter of this year financial results at its

BSEC relaxes the deadline for listed companies on submitting disclosure

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission - BSEC on April 22 relaxed the deadline for listed companies on submitting monthly and quarterly statements, as a step towards curbing the spread of Covid-19. The commission asked Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange authorities and all listed companies to comply with the new directive. The stock market regulator issued an official notice in this regard following appeals from some listed companies, seeking revision on the existing rule. As per the

Banks must give Tk 116cr in CSR to pandemic-hit people: BB

Commercial Banks will have to allocate around Tk 116 crore to carry out corporate social responsibility-CSR programmes in the form of providing essential goods and medical equipment to the underprivileged affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The banks will also have to set aside one per cent of net profits earned this year to cater supports to people in the categories of jeopardised, unemployed poor, rootless and despaired persons, according to a central bank notice issued on April 27. The one

ADB cuts growth projection for Bangladesh amid pandemic

The Asian Development Bank-ADB has downsized its projection about the Bangladesh's GDP growth in the current fiscal year of 2020-21, considering the second wave of Covid pandemic and fresh lockdown that restricted economic activities. The ADB in its annual flagship publication titled 'Asian Development Outlook-ADO 2021' released on April 28 projected that Bangladesh's GDP growth would pick up to 6.8 per cent in 2020-21 with stimulus package implementation and recovery in global g

Coronavirus vaccines should be made 'global public goods': PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh firmly believes that coronavirus vaccines should be declared "global public goods", and called for a strong partnership to tackle challenges posed by the pandemic. The PM said this in her prerecorded video speech at the opening plenary of the four-day annual conference Boao Forum for Asia (BAF) titled "A world in change: Join hands to strengthen global governance and advance Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Cooperation" held on A

# International
Indian parties can choose a foreign seat for arbitration: Supreme Court

on April 20, 2021, the Supreme Court of India held that parties to a contract who are Indian nationals or Companies incorporated in India can choose a forum for arbitration outside India. "Nothing stands in the way of party autonomy in designating a seat of arbitration outside India even when both parties happen to be Indian nationals", the Bench headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman observed. The Bench was considering the question whether two companies incorporated in India can choo

Mandamus not for setting up an adjudicatory body: India's SC

A mandamus cannot be issued by this Court for setting up an adjudicatory body or tribunal, the Indian Supreme Court - SC observed on April 21, 2021. The Court observed thus while dismissing a writ petition filed by John Paily and others who sought a direction to set up an independent Tribunal comprising of retired High Court judges who can look into the claims of each parish Church to determine which faction/denomination must have control over each such Church. They also sought a direction to th

European Parliament passes trade and cooperation agreement with UK

The European Parliament passed the first post-Brexit trade deal with the UK on April 29, 2021 - the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The deal was agreed to on December 31, 2020, and was ratified by the European Parliament on April 28 by a vote of 660 for, five against. This deal was provisionally enacted in January in order to minimize trade disruptions between the EU Union and the UK. Provisional approval was set to expire on April 30, so the European Parliament’s ratification ensures tha

US Senators introduce Bill to probe whether attacks on Rohingya genocide

A group of 10 US senators led by Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced legislation on April 14, 2021 that would require Secretary of State Antony Blinken to investigate Myanmar’s military attacks on the Rohingya minority and decide whether they constitute genocide. Since 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh hoping to escape the military’s systemic killing of their people, says the legislation. The bill points to the documented history of the attacks, which have been investi

Germany top Court rules climate change law is insufficient

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court held on April 29, 2021 that several provisions in the country’s Federal Climate Change Act of 2019 were insufficient and violate freedoms in the Basic Law. The court described the idea of climate change having severe impacts that affect virtually all aspects of human life. The case started in 2019 when farming families from the North Sea Island sued the government after a series of unexpected hot summers followed by rising sea levels plagued the

Chinese businessman sentenced to two years in prison for exporting technology

On September 8, 2021, US District Court Judge Denise Casper sentenced Qin Shuren, founder of LinkOcean Technologies, to two years in federal prison for violating the Export Administration Regulations, as well as visa fraud, money laundering, and smuggling. Qin claims that the technologies were not top secret and he was unaware of the university’s intended use for the technology, which also has civilian and scientific use. Qin plead guilty to these crimes in April, after negotiating a plea

South Korea passes ‘anti-Google law’

South Korea’s Parliament approved a Bill in early September 2021 that imposes curbs on Google and Apple’s payment policies. The Bill bans these major app store operators from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from charging commissions on in-app purchases. This comes after the legislation and judiciary committee of South Korea’s National Assembly approved the Bill on August 26. The Bill is an amendment to the Telecommunications B

Hong Kong legislature passes controversial Privacy Bill

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Bill 2021 on September 29, 2021. The law deals with “doxxing” which is the public release of information identifying an individual or organization. The Bill was introduced to the Legislative Council in July. The law empowers The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to investigate and prosecute doxxing and criminalises these doxxing acts. Doxxing, the act of publishing private or identi

Section 106 applies to cases successfully established by the prosecution: SC

The Supreme Court of India observed that the Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act applies to cases where chain of events has been successfully established by the prosecution, from which a reasonable inference is made out against the accused. In a case based on circumstantial evidence, whenever an incriminating question is posed to the accused and he or she either evades response, or offers a response which is not true, then such a response in itself becomes an additional link in the chain of e

China internet regulator releases draft amendments

Desk Report: The Cybersecurity Administration of China-CAC on January 6, 2022 published a draft of amendments to the Administrative Regulations on the Management of Mobile Internet Application Information Services issued in 2016. The draft contains 27 articles and places emphasis on data security, user privacy, and national security. The rules govern app providers and distribution platforms, requiring them to abide by China’s Constitution, laws, and administrative regulations. These groups

Trending
Judicial Intervention to Rectify the Misinterpretation of Statutory Provisions: The Case of BTRC

Introduction: Adopting the new technological development, Bangladesh had opened up its telecommunication sector for mobile phone services during 1990s. The first mobile phone license was issued in 1989 and five more licenses were issued subsequently during 1996-2006. Since the inception of the mobile phone services, the sector had been suffering from many drawbacks: low-level of investment, limited capacity to meet growing demand, poor service quality and high tariff. To regulate and to improve

Regime of International Commercial Arbitration and Court Ordered Interim Measures

Globalisation has rendered international transactions more frequent and has shown inadequacy of national laws as a regulatory instrument thereof. Innovations in information technology and computer networks, a global shift towards market economies within nation states and regional and multilateral free trade agreements, have all led to an increasingly globalised world economy. Due to rise of globalisation and the expansion of trading frontiers, international commercial transactions have significa

Judicial Intervention to Rectify the Misinterpretation of Statutory Provisions: The Case of BTRC

Introduction: Adopting the new technological development, Bangladesh had opened up its telecommunication sector for mobile phone services during 1990s. The first mobile phone license was issued in 1989 and five more licenses were issued subsequently during 1996-2006. Since the inception of the mobile phone services, the sector had been suffering from many drawbacks: low-level of investment, limited capacity to meet growing demand, poor service quality and high tariff. To regulate and to