Revisiting Personal Laws in Bangladesh: Proposals for Reform

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is centrally located in South Asia and is one of the eight countries that constitute the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In 2010, the South Asian Institute of Legal and Human Rights Studies in Dhaka (SAILS) initiated the ’Combating Gender Injustice’ research study to investigate how the Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities in the country are affected by the laws and customs governing their personal lives. The aim was to engage in a dialogue with the stakeholders the results of which would provide a basis to formulate recommendations for law, policy and procedural reform. These reports have been reproduced in this volume in updated and revised form. Moreover, in order to offer a more complete overview of the ethnic and religious minorities concerned, a chapter has been added on the personal laws of the Buddhist community, the third largest religious community in Bangladesh. Finally, the volume offers much needed information on the laws and customs of the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, communities following traditional rules and customs in the remote and hilly region of the country. The gender-insensitive personal laws prevalent in South Asian societies will continue to be debated for generations to come. This unique volume gives a voice to the different religious and ethnic communities affected by the current laws and practices in force in Bangladesh. The reader will find an overview and gain understanding of the legal issues that need to be addressed in each case.

Faustina Pereira is an International Human Rights Lawyer, and Gender and Development Specialist. She has served in senior leadership positions in national and international organisations, including International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), BRAC and Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). She is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and an Alumna of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame (USA) and the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh). Faustina was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her book The Fractured Scales: The Search for a Uniform Personal Code (Stree, 2002) was recognised and awarded by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh for its impact on the lives of women and marginalised communities who suffer legal impediments.

Shahnaz Huda has been teaching at the Law Department of the University of Dhaka since 1989, specializing in personal and comparative family laws, gender and child rights issues. Shahnaz Huda is regarded as an authority in her field and is frequently consulted by NGO’s and other institutions for advice. She is an also active Board member of the Manusher Jonno Foundation, a national initiative set up to promote good governance and human rights in the country. Professor Huda obtained her Doctorate from the University of East London, UK in 1996 and recently completed a post-doctoral research at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK as a Commonwealth Academic Fellow on family law in South Asia. She speaks and publishes very regularly on subjects of family law governing both the Hindu and the Muslim communities in the country.

Sara Hossain is a barrister and a partner at the law firm of Dr Kamal Hossain & Associates, Dhaka. She is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and her areas of specialisation are in human rights and international law, constitutional law, and family law. Ms Hossain obtained her M.A. (Hons) in Jurisprudence from Wadham College, Oxford University in 1988 and was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1989. In 1990 she was admitted to the Dhaka Bar and in 1992 to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, and in 2008 she enrolled in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She writes and lectures frequently on human rights, public interest law access to justice and women’s rights. Her publications include ’Honour’ Crimes, Paradigms and Violence against Women (Zed Books, London 2005; Zubaan, India, 2006) and Forced Marriage; Remedies in South Asia and the United Kingdom (Interrights, 2011).