Attorney General for Bangladesh; Gradual Evaluation in Bangladesh
Introduction: In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general or attorney generals.
In some jurisdictions, the attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.
The Attorney General of Bangladesh: is the Bangladeshi government's chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The Attorney General is usually a highly respected Senior Advocate and is appointed by the ruling government. The current Attorney General is Mahbubey Alam. The Attorney General is the ex-officio chairman of the Bangladesh Bar Council and accordingly he performs the duties assigned to that post and empowered to participate in any reference to the Supreme Court made by the President under article 106 of the Constitution and can express his own opinion.
Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the Attorney General of Bangladesh does not have any executive authority, and is not a political appointee; those functions are performed by the Minister of Justice. The Attorney General is assisted by the several Additional Attorneys-General, Deputy Attorneys-General, and Assistant Attorneys-General.
History and Gradual evolution: The concept of an attorney general dates back to the Anglo-Norman system of government. During this time, French legal terms were introduced into the English system of government. The first mention of the term attorney Regis, or "king's attorney," was made in 1253. In 1472, the first formal appointment was made [source: History of the Attorney General's Office].
The office of the attorney general has always been of great importance; the attorney the general was both legal representatives of the king and royal government as well as the parens patriae, or "guardian of public interests." As such, the attorney general was charged with protecting the rights of both the crown and the public.
The history of the attorney general in the United States dates back to the American Revolution and the establishment of a federal government free from Great Britain. Although Americans did not want to create a monarchy like Britain's, they thought it was important to institute an office similar to the British attorney general. The Judiciary Act of 1789, passed by the First Congress and signed into law President George Washington, established the office of the attorney general. According to the provisions made when creating the office, the United States attorney general would be appointed by the president of the The United States.
Since 1870 and the establishment of the Department of Justice as a part of the the executive branch of the government, the U.S. attorney general has headed the world's largest law office. Throughout the history of the office, 81 Americans have served as attorney general.
When individual states were drafting their constitutions, most modeled their the government on the federal system, and thus established the office of the the attorney general on a state level. Most attorney generals are elected, while others are appointed by the governor, legislature or supreme court of the state.
After the formation of the state in Bangladesh, Article 64 of the Constitution of Bangladesh deals with the Attorney General. Bangladesh law officers order, 1972 and The attorney-general (terms and conditions of service) rules, 1973 passed then the post of the attorney general and his appointment, power, duty, and function legally recognized
List of Attorneys General for Bangladesh
|
No. |
Name |
Took office |
Left office |
|
1 |
|||
|
2 |
Fauquier Shahabuddin Ahmad |
1972 |
1976 |
|
1976 |
|||
|
1977 |
|||
|
1990 |
|||
|
1991 |
1994 |
||
|
9 |
1996 |
1998 |
|
|
10 |
1998 |
2001 |
|
|
11 |
October 2001 |
28 April 2005 |
|
|
12 |
30 April 2005 |
24 January 2007 |
|
|
13 |
January 2007 |
16 July 2008 |
|
|
14 |
13 July 2008 |
12 January 2009 |
|
|
15 |
13 January 2009 |
Incumbent |
Law officers of Bangladesh
Section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers Order,1972 provides that ‘law officer’ means four types of posts:
1. The Attorney- General for Bangladesh
2. The Additional Attorney-General for Bangladesh
3. The Deputy Attorney-General for Bangladesh
4. The Assistant Attorney-General for Bangladesh
Again the legal Remembrance’s Manual, 1960 provides for provisions of Other Law Officers of Government’ which include Government pleaders, public prosecutors, etc.
Appointment, Qualification, and Tenure of Law Officers:
Appointment of the Attorney-General is vested in the President and the tenure of his term is also dependent on the pleasure of the President. A person who is qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh is eligible to be appointed as the Attorney-General. This is specified in Article 64 of the Constitution. The President, in addition to the Attorney-General for Bangladesh, appoints by the notification in the official Gazette, Additional Attorney-General, not exceeding three, and a such number of Deputy Attorney-General and Assistant Attorney-General as he may determine. No person can be appointed as an additional Attorney-General or Deputy Attorney-General unless he is qualified to be appointed as a judge of the High Court Division. To be eligible for the appointment of Assistant AttorneyGeneral a person must have completed five years of practice in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The Attorney-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. Similarly, according to section 4 of the Bangladesh Law Officers Order,1972, a Law Officer shall hold office during the pleasure of the President and his service may be terminated at any time by the President without assigning any reason for the termination.
According to The constitution of Bangladesh
Article 64. (1) The President shall appoint a a person who is qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court to be Attorney General for Bangladesh.
(2) The Attorney General shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the President.
(3) In the performance of his duties, the Attorney General shall have the right of audience in all courts of Bangladesh.
(4) The Attorney General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine.
FUNCTION AND DUTIES OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Attorney-General shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the President.
In the performance of his duties, the Attorney-General shall have the right of audience in all courts of Bangladesh.
The Attorney-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall receive such remuneration as the President may determine.
Attorney General is the ex-officio chairman of the Bangladesh Bar Council and accordingly he performs the duties assigned to that post.
The Attorney General is empowered to participate in any reference to Supreme Court made by the President under article 106 of the Constitution and can express his own opinion.
Duties of the Law Officers other than the Attorney-General:
The of the Law Officers other than the Attorney-General are detailed in the Bangladesh Law Officers ( Terms and Conditions of Service ) Rules, 1973. They are described below:
Duties of the Additional Attorney-General: Rule 4 (1) specifies that it shall be the duty of the Additional Attorney-General;
(a) To give advice to the Government upon such legal matter and to perform such other duties of a legal character as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the Government.
(b) To appear, whenever required, in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Government in cases in which the Government is a party or otherwise interested;
(c) To represent the Government in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 106 of the Constitution;
(d) To discharge such other functions as are conferred on him by or under the law for the time being in force; and
(e) To appear on behalf of the Government or to tender advice on any matter referred to him by the Attorney-General.
Duties of the Deputy Attorney-General:
Deputy Attorney-Generals are classified according to the areas of laws in which they are assigned to perform their functions. The three broad classifications are Deputy Attorney-General in Civil matters, Deputy Attorney-General in Criminal matters, and Deputy Attorney-General in writ matters. These functions are detailed in rule 4(2).
Duties of the Assistant Attorney-General It shall be the duty of Assistant Attorney-General –
To assist the Attorney-General, Additional Attorney-General and Deputy Attorney-General; and To appear on behalf of the Government and to give advice in any matter referred to him by the Attorney-General, Additional Attorney-General, and Deputy Attorney-General.
Conclusion: From the above discussion, we can say in Bangladesh there are four types of Law Officer, namely- The Attorney-General, The Additional Attorney-General, The Deputy AttorneyGeneral, and Assistant Attorney-General for Bangladesh. Their appointment, remuneration, tenure of office are vested on the pleasure of the President. The law officer acts for the Government and they have all right to the audience in all courts of the country.
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