By FutureLaw Desk

Society for Critical Legal Studies (SCLS) is hosting the Advanced Course on Constitutional Law in Bangladesh. The Course will be conducted by Mr. Jashim Ali Chowdhury, Assistant Professor at the University of Chittagong and Ph.D. Candidate at King’s College, London (Commonwealth scholar).

Registration

Facebook Event Link: https://fb.me/e/5CLKw80rr

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/Uqrc34idFUUK7Na89

At first please send Taka 1230 as registration fee via Bkash. Bkash (personal) numbers are: 01859199685 (Bkash personal) or 01515668445 (Bkash personal).

After sending the registration fee to one of the designated numbers, please SMS your name, University, and year to the Bkash number. Also, note down the transaction ID or TrxID after sending the fee. That transaction ID is needed to complete the registration link. After noting down the transaction ID/ TrxID (received via SMS from Bkash) please go through the registration link above to complete the process

Proposed Sessions and topics to be covered

1. Introduction to Constitution and Constitutional LawConstitution as Rule Book, and as a System of Governance; The idea of Constitutionalism

2. Historical Background of Bangladesh; Constitution-Making: The question of democratic participation

3. Preamble – The Four Pillars of Bangladesh Constitution (1) – Bangalee v. Bangladeshi Nationalism

4. Preamble – The Four Pillars of Bangladesh Constitution (2) – Secularism, Religious Discrimination, and IntoleranceState Religion

5. Preamble – The Four Pillars of Bangladesh Constitution (3) – Socialism v Capitalism

6. Constitutional Supremacy and Military Intervention Illiberal Democracy and the Democratic Backsliding

7. Constitutional Supremacy and Parliamentary Supremacy; Political Constitutionalism and Legal Constitutionalism; Case for and against Judicial Review

8. Separation and/or fusion of powers and their newer variants

9. Fundamental Principles of State Policy; Questions of Judicial Enforceability – Right to Life Jurisprudence of the Indian Subcontinent

10. Rule of Man vs. Rule of Law

11. Fundamental Rights, Rights Restriction and Judicial Activism

12. Equality Jurisprudence of Bangladesh Supreme Court: A Social and/or Distributive Justice Court?

13. Protection in respect of arrest, remand. Trial & punishment Preventive Detention, Extra-judicial killing, Custodial torture

14. Freedom of speech & press: Information Technology and Digital Security laws in perspective

15. Freedom of speech, expression & press: Criticizing the prominent leaders – desirability and limits

16. “Fourth Branch Institutions” and Civil Society

17. Presidentialism in Bangladesh: Presidential Prerogatives and Discretion

18. Prime Minister and the CabinetQuestion of Accountability – Individual and Collective

19. Westminster System and the Prime Ministerial Dictatorship

20. Parliament as an Accountability Institution: Problems of Party System

21. Parliament as an Accountable Institution Electoral accountability of parliament -Erstwhile Caretaker Government and way forward

22. Continuous Accountability of ParliamentMPs’ constituency works

23. Legislative and budgetary process: Government control and limits of parliamentary scrutiny

24. Private member or non-government businesses in parliament

25. Problems and Prospects of Parliamentary Committee System

26. Parliamentary privileges & immunitiesJudicial Independence vs AccountabilityWhere is the Institutional Interaction?

27. Independence of judiciary: Appointment and Removal of Supreme Court Judges – What is wrong with the Sixteenth Amendment?

28. Independence or Separation of Subordinate Judiciary Mobile Courts and the fallouts of Masdar Hossain verdict

29. Judiciary and the dilemma of the Office of Profit

30. Public Interest Litigation: Judicial Activism and Restraint

31. Strong and Weak Form Judicial Review; Any scope of Constitutional Dialogue?

32. Political disputes before the Court: “Abusive Constitutionalism”

33. Emergency and Judicial Review of Emergency Powers

34. Democratic Self-governance: Decentralization and Local Government

35. Services of the Republic and rise of an unchecked Bureaucracy; Ombudsman and Administrative Tribunal

36. Amending the constitution: Problems of Basic Structure and Perpetuity: Question of Inter-generational Adaptation

37. Politics of constitutional amendments in Bangladesh

38. Reflections: Problems of constitutionalism in Bangladesh

39. Looking Forward: Democratic institution-building and constitutional reform

40. Final Session: Feedbacks and critical evaluation of the Course