Constitutional Reform Commission


The Constitutional Reform Commission was established by the Interim government in September 2024 with a purpose to prepare a report on the reasons behind the past constitutional failures and to create a roadmap for holding a constituent assembly election to draft and adopt a new, inclusive, democratic constitution, ensuring the inviolability of human dignity.
The commission was formed in the aftermath of a constitutional crisis triggered by the July Revolution that culminated in the ousting of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024. The commission is chaired by Ali Riaz.
File:People cheering in front of the Prime Minister's Office after Sheikh Hasina's resignation.jpg|thumb|People occupying the Prime Minister's Office after the ousting of Sheikh Hasina in the July Revolution

Background

The commission was formed following the ouster of the previous government, led by Sheikh Hasina, during the July Revolution, which forced her to flee to India on 5 August 2024. This paved the way for the formation of an Interim government under Muhammad Yunus, who was appointed as Chief Adviser. The government aimed to initiate reforms across multiple sectors concerning corruption, electoral fraud, and authoritarianism. A prominent intellectuals like Farhad Mazhar said that the country was going through a "constitutional vacuum" as the there is no provision for any kind of interim government in the current constitution. Nevertheless, Bangladeshi courts have upheld the Yunus government's legitimacy under the doctrine of necessity. Court opinions have held that Hasina's resignation created a situation for which there was no constitutional remedy, and an interim government was needed to address urgent matters in state affairs.
The formation of the constitutional reform commission was part of a broader agenda to implement systematic changes across Bangladesh's core institutions, such as the judiciary, public administration, electoral processes, and the anti-Corruption. The Interim government's reform efforts were influenced by the mass uprising, which brought national attention to issues of systemic corruption and democratic backsliding.

History

The constitutional reform commission was announced on 11 September 2024, along with five other commissions. In his public address, Chief Adviser have emphasized that reforming the constitutional and electoral frameworks was essential to halting the recurring cycles of political violence and authoritarianism that had plagued Bangladesh. He also stressed that the reform process would ensure public ownership of the state and uphold the principles of accountability and welfare.
Additionally, the commission was tasked with reviewing existing laws related to political party registration, campaign finance, and voter rights.

Appointment of Ali Riaz

Initially, the commission was to be led by lawyer Shahdeen Malik. However, shortly after its formation, the government announced that Malik would be replaced by Ali Riaz, a professor of political science at Illinois State University. Riaz, known for his expertise in South Asian politics, was entrusted with leading the commission's activities. His appointment was seen as an effort to bring an international perspective to the reform process, though it also underscored the delicate political environment within the interim government.
Before being appointed as the head of the commission, Riaz actively advocated for redrafting a new constitution. In a conference organized by the Center for Governance Studies Riaz said:

Members

On 7 October 2024, the government announced names of the nine members of the commission, which is listed below:
NamePositionBackground
Ali RiazHead of CommissionPolitical scientist and Writer
Sumaiya KhairMemberProfessor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka
Imran SiddiqueMemberBar-at-Law
Muhammad Ekramul HaqueMemberProfessor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka
Sharif BhuiyanMemberSenior Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
M Moin Alam FiroziMemberBar-at-Law
Firoz AhmedMemberWriter
Md. Mostain BillahMemberWriter and Human rights activist
Mahfuj AlamMemberStudent Representative
Saleh Uddin SifatMemberStudent Representative

Scope and Purpose

The reform includes review of the present constitution and the general amendment, addition, alteration, revision, rearrangement and rewriting of the constitution to reflect the aspirations of the people.
The purpose of reform of the Constitution:
  1. Attaining equality, human dignity and social justice as the promised objectives of the Liberation War of 1971 waged in pursuance of a long struggle and establishing a non-discriminatory and republican state inspired by the mass upsurge of the students and people in 2024.
  2. Fulfillment of the people's desire to establish a participatory and democratic state as expressed through the mass upsurge of the students and people of 2024.
  3. Ensuring effective participation of people at all levels in politics and state administration.
  4. Preventing the emergence of any fascist system of governance in future.
  5. Ensuring the separation and balance of powers between the three organs of the state: executive, legislature, and judiciary.
  6. Decentralizing and adequately empowering state authorities and institutions.
  7. Ensuring effective independence and autonomy of state institutions, constitutional functionaries and statutory bodies.

    Recommendations

On January 15, 2025, the commission submitted a report having recommendations for reforming the constitution. The recommendations are:

Citizenship

  1. The commission recommends that the words 'প্রজাতন্ত্র' and 'গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ' in all applicable parts of the constitution be replaced by 'নাগরিকতন্ত্র' and 'জনগণতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ' respectively. However, in the English version, the terms "Republic" and "People's Republic of Bangladesh" will remain unchanged.
  2. Language: The state language of the republic will be 'Bangla'. All languages used as mother tongues by citizens of Bangladesh will be recognized as prevailing languages in the constitution.
  3. Citizenship: 'The people of Bangladesh shall be known as Bangalees...' The commission recommends abolishing this provision. It is suggested that the current be amended as follows: "The citizens of Bangladesh shall be known as 'Bangladeshis" to replace the existing provision.
  4. The commission recommends the repeal of Articles and concerning constitutional offenses and limitations on constitutional amendments.
  5. Fundamental Principles of the Constitution:
  6. # The commission recommends including equality, human dignity, social justice, pluralism, and democracy as fundamental principles of the constitution.
  7. # A provision reflecting the pluralistic nature of Bangladeshi society should be added to the constitution. Therefore, the commission recommends incorporating the following provision: "Bangladesh is a pluralistic, multi-nation, multi-religion, multi-language, and multi-cultural country where the coexistence and proper dignity of all communities will be ensured."
  8. Principles of the State: The commission recommends removing secularism, socialism, and nationalism as fundamental principles of the state, along with , , , and of the constitution related to these principles.

    Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

  9. The commission has reviewed the articles related to rights in the constitution and made several recommendations. It is proposed to integrate the rights under and of the existing constitution into a single charter titled "Fundamental Rights and Freedoms", which will be enforceable in courts and eliminate disparities between economic, social, cultural rights, and civil, political rights.
  10. The commission recommends including some new rights in the constitution, such as the right to food, education, healthcare, housing, internet access, information, voting, participation in state governance, privacy protection, consumer protection, children's rights, development, science, and the rights of future generations.
  11. Reforms to existing articles on rights have been proposed, such as expanding the limited list of prohibited discriminations, ensuring protection against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances to safeguard the right to life, including the right to bail, and repealing provisions related to preventive detention.
  12. Instead of imposing separate limits for each fundamental right, it is proposed to establish a general limit with provisions for balancing and proportionality tests, which would reduce the risk of rights infringement.
  13. For rights requiring significant resources and time for implementation, it is recommended to implement them progressively based on resource availability, ensuring accountability and effective realization according to available resources.

    Legislature

  • The Commission recommends a bicameral legislature: a lower house Jatiya Sangsad and an upper house. Both houses will have a tenure of 4 years.

    Lower House

  1. The lower house will consist of members directly elected by majority vote. It will have 400 seats. Among them, 300 members will be elected through direct voting from single regional constituencies. Another 100 female members will be elected directly from 100 constituencies designated across all districts of the country, with competition limited to female candidates.
  2. Political parties will nominate candidates from young men and women for at least 10% of the total seats in the lower house.
  3. The minimum age for contesting parliamentary elections will be reduced to 21 years.
  4. There will be 2 deputy speakers, one of whom will be nominated from the opposition party.
  5. A member of parliament will not hold more than one of the following positions simultaneously: Prime Minister, Leader of Parliament, and Head of a political party.
  6. Except for financial bills, members of the lower house will have full authority to vote against their nominating party.
  7. Permanent committees of the legislature will always have their chairs nominated from opposition members.