Reforming Bangladesh’s Criminal Procedure Code: Breaking the Cycle of Misuse and Injustice
Reader's Question : Can a justice system rooted in colonial legacy truly serve a free nation? In Bangladesh, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) remains largely unchanged from the one inherited during British colonial rule in 1898. While justice systems around the world have embraced modernity, transparency, and technology, Bangladesh’s legal procedures still reflect outdated practices, often enabling delay, corruption, and misuse. In this blog, we explore how the CrPC is misapplied in Bangladesh, why urgent reforms are needed, and how other nations—like the UK, Canada, Germany, and Japan—have restructured their criminal justice systems for speed, fairness, and accountability. "Eleven years, one verdict still missing." The Criminal Procedure Code in Bangladesh: Misuse, Reform Needs, and Global Comparisons. 1. Introduction: A System Trapped in the Past Bangladesh’s Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (CrPC) is one of the oldest pieces of legislation still in act...