Dr. Zahidul Islam Biswas | Independent University, Bangladesh (original) (raw)
Papers by Dr. Zahidul Islam Biswas
Law Our Rights the Daily Star, 2008
One of the hotly debated legal issues of the present time is whether HIV patients should have rig... more One of the hotly debated legal issues of the present time is whether HIV patients should have right to marry. Though a good number of countries have already enacted laws giving legal right to marry to the AIDS patients, it is still undecided in most of the countries of the globe. India and Bangladesh are two neighbouring countries which do not have any specific legislation settling the issue, though HIV/AIDS is considered to be a great threat to both Indian and Bangladeshi society. This write-up examines the present legal position regarding this issue in both the countries.
Forum, 2012
Political interference is the main obstacle to bringing the rowdy elements of police under contro... more Political interference is the main obstacle to bringing the rowdy elements of police under control.
Forum, 2013
The common people of Bangladesh hold a confused perception about the legality of hartal. They gen... more The common people of Bangladesh hold a confused perception about the legality of hartal. They generally consider hartal as legal and recognise it as a democratic right. But after experiencing devastating hartals over the years, they frequently ask a question, how such hartals can be legal, and how the destruction in the name of hartal can be a matter of right of the hartal announcers. These questions are, however, already answered clearly by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. What is still a moot question is how the hartal as a democratic right can be observed legally without violating others' rights. Another important question is whether the culture of hartal has outlived its purpose. This article deals with all these questions.
In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebration started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered any c... more In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebration started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered any considerable resistance so far from any front. Meanwhile, it has gained huge popularity among the young generation. What are the dynamics of Valentine's Day celebrations in Bangladesh? This article has attempted to explore this question by examining the emergence and development trajectory of Valentine's Day in Bangladesh.
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2007
It is very unfortunate that polygamy in Islam has been a subject of controversy. While a group of... more It is very unfortunate that polygamy in Islam has been a subject of controversy. While a group of scholars has, without going into deep study of the divine rules, preached that Islam has permitted to have more than one and upto four wives without reservation, the other group of scholars has, without paying any thought to the reality of life and society, opined that Islam in effect prohibited polygamy. Consequence is that they have made polygamy in Islam a moot question, which it is really not. Most deplorable state is that without any insights into the polygamy in Islam, some people have begun terming the provisions on polygamy as anti-women and biased to men. Hence here is an attempt to clarify the issues.
The Village Court: a neglected but potential rural justice forum Zahidul Islam Biswas∗ Published ... more The Village Court: a neglected but potential rural justice forum Zahidul Islam Biswas∗ Published in ... Suggested citation: Biswas, Zahidul Islam, 'The Village Court: A neglected but potential justice forum', in Law and Our Rights Section, The Daily Star, Bangladesh, Issue No. ...
Law Our Rights, the Daily Star, 2008
Backlog of cases appears to be a common predicament of the judiciaries worldwide. Countries from ... more Backlog of cases appears to be a common predicament of the judiciaries worldwide. Countries from both developed and developing world have been facing this problem more or less alike. However, this difficulty for Bangladesh judiciary seems going from bad to worse every year. According to latest annual report on the judiciary, still the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has 8,997 cases pending, the High Court 2,62,349 cases and the judicial magistracy 6,02,173 cases as of December 31, 2007 although the disposal rate of cases has increased. It is a matter of hope that the judiciary after being formally independent on November 1, 2007, has shown its efficiency to a good extent. After the separation of the judiciary from the executive and with the introduction of judicial magistracy, the rate of disposal of criminal cases in the courts of magistrates increased by 51 per cent in December 2007 in relation to the cases disposed of by the judicial magistrates in November 2007.
Law and Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
A proper implementation of the law could improve the state of 'access' to justice dramatically. ... more A proper implementation of the law could improve the state of 'access' to justice dramatically. But that did not happen. Then why the mechanism is not working effectively is a question to be researched. Though there have been some researches on it, I think those researches are not adequate to address the issue properly. It is time government undertook an in-depth study, not a fly-in-fly-out study, to dig out the problems of the rural justice system and address those problems without delay.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), 2006
The purpose of establishment of Family Courts in Bangladesh was to ensure a quick, effective and ... more The purpose of establishment of Family Courts in Bangladesh was to ensure a quick, effective and amicable disposal of some of the family matters, which the traditional civil courts had failed to successfully deal with. Unfortunately, the noble aim of introducing Family Courts has not been expectantly achieved though already more than two decades have passed after the courts’ coming into operation. There are many and diverse type of reasons behind such letdown. Given the socio-economic grounds, the procedural as well as substantive loopholes in the ordinance and related laws are not negligible. Besides, there are some misconceptions. This book endeavours to examine those confusions, uncertainties and misconceptions in the light of judicial decisions of the country’s higher courts.
Law & our Rights, The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 2007
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Bangladesh Journal of Law, 2006
... This article may be cited as: 1. Zahidul Islam Biswas, 'The confusions and uncertainties... more ... This article may be cited as: 1. Zahidul Islam Biswas, 'The confusions and uncertainties thwarting Family Courts in Bangladesh' June, 2007, [www location], [date of access] ... Zahidul Islam Biswas ± ±Zahidul Islam Biswas is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, ...
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Forum (a monthly publication of The Daily …, 2013
Forum (a monthly publication of The Daily …, 2013
Law Our Rights the Daily Star, 2008
One of the hotly debated legal issues of the present time is whether HIV patients should have rig... more One of the hotly debated legal issues of the present time is whether HIV patients should have right to marry. Though a good number of countries have already enacted laws giving legal right to marry to the AIDS patients, it is still undecided in most of the countries of the globe. India and Bangladesh are two neighbouring countries which do not have any specific legislation settling the issue, though HIV/AIDS is considered to be a great threat to both Indian and Bangladeshi society. This write-up examines the present legal position regarding this issue in both the countries.
Forum, 2012
Political interference is the main obstacle to bringing the rowdy elements of police under contro... more Political interference is the main obstacle to bringing the rowdy elements of police under control.
Forum, 2013
The common people of Bangladesh hold a confused perception about the legality of hartal. They gen... more The common people of Bangladesh hold a confused perception about the legality of hartal. They generally consider hartal as legal and recognise it as a democratic right. But after experiencing devastating hartals over the years, they frequently ask a question, how such hartals can be legal, and how the destruction in the name of hartal can be a matter of right of the hartal announcers. These questions are, however, already answered clearly by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. What is still a moot question is how the hartal as a democratic right can be observed legally without violating others' rights. Another important question is whether the culture of hartal has outlived its purpose. This article deals with all these questions.
In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebration started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered any c... more In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebration started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered any considerable resistance so far from any front. Meanwhile, it has gained huge popularity among the young generation. What are the dynamics of Valentine's Day celebrations in Bangladesh? This article has attempted to explore this question by examining the emergence and development trajectory of Valentine's Day in Bangladesh.
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2007
It is very unfortunate that polygamy in Islam has been a subject of controversy. While a group of... more It is very unfortunate that polygamy in Islam has been a subject of controversy. While a group of scholars has, without going into deep study of the divine rules, preached that Islam has permitted to have more than one and upto four wives without reservation, the other group of scholars has, without paying any thought to the reality of life and society, opined that Islam in effect prohibited polygamy. Consequence is that they have made polygamy in Islam a moot question, which it is really not. Most deplorable state is that without any insights into the polygamy in Islam, some people have begun terming the provisions on polygamy as anti-women and biased to men. Hence here is an attempt to clarify the issues.
The Village Court: a neglected but potential rural justice forum Zahidul Islam Biswas∗ Published ... more The Village Court: a neglected but potential rural justice forum Zahidul Islam Biswas∗ Published in ... Suggested citation: Biswas, Zahidul Islam, 'The Village Court: A neglected but potential justice forum', in Law and Our Rights Section, The Daily Star, Bangladesh, Issue No. ...
Law Our Rights, the Daily Star, 2008
Backlog of cases appears to be a common predicament of the judiciaries worldwide. Countries from ... more Backlog of cases appears to be a common predicament of the judiciaries worldwide. Countries from both developed and developing world have been facing this problem more or less alike. However, this difficulty for Bangladesh judiciary seems going from bad to worse every year. According to latest annual report on the judiciary, still the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has 8,997 cases pending, the High Court 2,62,349 cases and the judicial magistracy 6,02,173 cases as of December 31, 2007 although the disposal rate of cases has increased. It is a matter of hope that the judiciary after being formally independent on November 1, 2007, has shown its efficiency to a good extent. After the separation of the judiciary from the executive and with the introduction of judicial magistracy, the rate of disposal of criminal cases in the courts of magistrates increased by 51 per cent in December 2007 in relation to the cases disposed of by the judicial magistrates in November 2007.
Law and Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
A proper implementation of the law could improve the state of 'access' to justice dramatically. ... more A proper implementation of the law could improve the state of 'access' to justice dramatically. But that did not happen. Then why the mechanism is not working effectively is a question to be researched. Though there have been some researches on it, I think those researches are not adequate to address the issue properly. It is time government undertook an in-depth study, not a fly-in-fly-out study, to dig out the problems of the rural justice system and address those problems without delay.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), 2006
The purpose of establishment of Family Courts in Bangladesh was to ensure a quick, effective and ... more The purpose of establishment of Family Courts in Bangladesh was to ensure a quick, effective and amicable disposal of some of the family matters, which the traditional civil courts had failed to successfully deal with. Unfortunately, the noble aim of introducing Family Courts has not been expectantly achieved though already more than two decades have passed after the courts’ coming into operation. There are many and diverse type of reasons behind such letdown. Given the socio-economic grounds, the procedural as well as substantive loopholes in the ordinance and related laws are not negligible. Besides, there are some misconceptions. This book endeavours to examine those confusions, uncertainties and misconceptions in the light of judicial decisions of the country’s higher courts.
Law & our Rights, The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 2007
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Bangladesh Journal of Law, 2006
... This article may be cited as: 1. Zahidul Islam Biswas, 'The confusions and uncertainties... more ... This article may be cited as: 1. Zahidul Islam Biswas, 'The confusions and uncertainties thwarting Family Courts in Bangladesh' June, 2007, [www location], [date of access] ... Zahidul Islam Biswas ± ±Zahidul Islam Biswas is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, ...
Law & Our Rights, The Daily Star, 2008
Forum (a monthly publication of The Daily …, 2013
Forum (a monthly publication of The Daily …, 2013
The Arbitration Council System is a state-led semi-formal rural justice system in Bangladesh, whi... more The Arbitration Council System is a state-led semi-formal rural justice system in Bangladesh, which deals with family disputes relating to marriage, divorce, polygamy, dower and maintenance of wife. How gender relations, power relations, and law interplay in the process of decision making in the Arbitration Council System was the subject matter of research in my PhD study. As a part of the study, I did an ethnographic fieldwork in a Union Parishad, a rural local government authority, which was responsible to administer justice through the Arbitration Council system in around twenty-five villages. During my two years long fieldwork in between 2009-2011, I studied sixty Arbitration Councils’ cases. Some of these cases moved me seriously. This is just one story of a woman justice seeker in the Arbitration Council System in rural Bangladesh.
CCB Foundation Dhaka, 2009
Economically poor and marginalised rural people of Bangladesh do need a justice system which is e... more Economically poor and marginalised rural people of Bangladesh do need a justice system which is easily accessible, less expensive, efficient, fair, impartial, unbiased, capable to provide remedies timely, and consistent with their values.
The objectives of introducing State-led Rural Justice Systems, namely the Village Court System and the Arbitration Council System, were to fulfil this need of the rural people. In other words, the objectives were to provide them with better alternatives to the village shalish system that often becomes a space for the powerful village elite to exercise their various types of power.
Previous studies show that the state-led justice systems have failed to achieve the objectives miserably. The reasons why the state-led rural justice systems have failed to provide access to justice to the rural justice seekers or why these justice systems are yet to become better alternatives to the shalish, have become obvious in this book.
This book suggests an immediate state intervention in the field of rural justice. Despite some plaguing incapacities, the state-led rural justice systems have adequate strengths. A thoughtful and careful intervention to fight the weaknesses and challenges exposed in this book can strengthen the state-led rural justice systems to a greater extent.