Assignment

Question : Juvenile justice system of Bangladesh ?

Answer :-The man object of juvenile justice is to protect the children from recidivism and ensure their
rehabilitation as well as smooth reintegration within the society. Moreover a proper juvenile justice
development program is indispensable in the efforts to bring up the juveniles as worthy citizens of the
country. On the contrary they are the future leaders of the nation, so it is necessary to protect them from
stigmatization and to prevent delinquency. Juveniles have some 'Fundamental Rights' ensured by Article 28(4)
of the Constitution of Bangladesh.
There is no comprehensive juvenile justice system in Bangladesh. Instead different laws contain provisions
regarding children in conflict with the law and this often leads to confusion in regards to which law needs to be
applied.

The Constitution: The Fundamental rights to life; personal liberty, and equal protection of law, protection
against arbitrary arrest and to speedy and fair trial as guaranteed by the Constitution of Bangladesh under
Article 31, 32 and 35(3) applies to all citizens. However, Article 28(4) also encourages state to make special
provision in favor of women or children or other backward section of citizens.

The Code of Criminal Procedure: Bangladesh inherited a sketchy juvenile justice system from the colonial
laws, contained in Section 29B of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides for the trial of children in
juvenile courts.

The Bengal Jail Code: The Bengal Jail Code and Prisons Act of 1894 provided separation of children from
adults in jails.

The Penal Code: According to section 82 of the Penal Code, a child under the age of 7/9 years is protected
from any action against his/her criminal act. Section 83 states that if a child between 7 upto 12 years of age is
to be convicted of an offence, it must be proved that he/she had sufficient maturity of understanding to judge
the nature and consequences of the act done.
The age of criminal responsibility has beep increased from 7 to 9 years providing protection to children less
than 9 years of age from any judicial proceedings so that they are not criminally liable for any crimes
committed below 9 years of age, according to Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 2004.

The Vagrancy Act: The Vagrancy Act of 1943 defines a vagrant as anyone who is found in public asking for
alms, those persons who do not work, who live on the earnings of others through alms giving and who roam
about instead of working at their place of residence. The arrest of children under the Act appears to be arbitrary
and the threat of its use to extort bribes from children has become "an instrument in the hands of police to keep
urban areas free of undesirable elements and to extract financial considerations.

The Children Act: In Bangladesh the Children Act is enacted and enforced in anti therapeutic way. The
Children Act is the substantive law for juvenile offenders and their treatment. It deals with both children in
need of protection as well as children in conflict with the law. It deals with custody, protection and treatment
of children and trial and punishment of youthful offenders.

Section-2(1): A child means a person under the age of 16 years .

Section-66: Whenever a person is brought before any criminal court and it appears to the court that he is a
child, the court shall make an inquiry as to the age of that person and, for that purpose shall take such evidence
as may be forthcoming at the hearing of that case, and shall record a finding thereupon, stating his age as
nearly as may be.

Arrest and Bail

Section-13(2): Where the Child is arrested, the officer in charge of the police station to which he/she is brought
shall forthwith inform the parent or guardian of such arrest, if found and shall also cause them to he directed to
attend the court before which the child will appear and specify the date of such appearance.

Section-48: Where a person apparently under the age of 1 6 years is arrested on a charge of non- bailable
offence and cannot be brought forthwith before a court, the officer-in-charge of the police station may release
him/her on bail.

Section-49: Where a person apparently under the age of sixteen years having been arrested is not released on
bail, the officer-in-charge of the police station shall cause him/her to be detained in a remand home or a place
of safety until he can be brought before a court, on remanding for trial a child who is not released on bail, shall
order him to be detained in a remand home or a place of safety.

Section-50: Immediately after the arrest of a child, it shall be the duty of the police officer or any other person
affecting the arrest to inform the Probation Officer of such arrest in order to enable the Probation Officer to
proceed forthwith in obtaining information regarding the antecedents and family history and other mater ial
circumstances likely to assist the Court in making its order.

Case Study
Question – 1: Different Type of cyber-crimes in Bangladesh?

Answer :- Cyber-crimes in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, despite being a third world country, has seen a technological revolution. A Bangladeshi
teenager has very easy access to computers and other devices. And so, they get enough opportunity to
engage in hacking. Hacking has already become a major problem in Bangladesh. Young people are
getting more and more interested in hacking for the thrill in it. Not just young people, even the
mainstream media is so often engaged in the hacking and exposing private information.

The Mahmudur Rahman case is one of the leading cases in terms of cyber crimes in Bangladesh and
may be referred as the first cyber crime case in Bangladesh. Mahmudur Rahman, the founder of a
Bangladeshi newspaper named Amar Desh was sued in line with a High Court directive for publishing
reports on Skype conversation between former International Crimes Tribunal chairman Justice Md
Nijamul Huq and an expatriate legal expert in December, 2012. He was sued along with the Amar
Desh publisher Hashmat Ali on December 13, 2012.

On 15/02/2012 a group of alleged Bangladeshi hackers named ‘Black Hat Hackers’ hacked more than
25000 Indian websites which included important sites such as the website of the Border Security Forces
(BSF). Propaganda activities are also considered as cyber-crimes in some instances. Propaganda is
information which is biased and misleading in nature used to promote or publicize a particular political
cause or ideology. It creates agitation and panic among the public. For example, we can mention the
2012 Ramu Violence in Cox’s Bazar. Someone with a fake Facebook account posted a photo of
desecration of the Holy Quran on its wall. The fake account was under a Buddhist male name. This
post agitated the common Muslim people of that area and they, without verifying the authenticity of
the Facebook account, attacked innocent Buddhist dwellers of that area. Many Buddhist temples,
monasteries and households were destroyed. So, it is clear that Bangladesh is not free from the threat
of cyber-crimes. Everyday new forms of cyber-crimes are happening and if it goes unchecked, law and
order situation will worsen.

Legal fabric of Bangladesh regarding cyber-crimes

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 came in force on 8 October, 2006.
Subsequently, the government amended the Act in 2008 and in 2009. For the better application of the
Act, the government passed Information Technology (Certificate Authority) rules in 2010. But these
laws alone are not enough. To face the challenges growing in cyber space it is essential to amend the
existing laws such as the Penal Code 1860, the Evidence Act 1872, the Contract Act 1872 etc. It is
hoped that these Acts will be modified in accordance with the demand of time. However, there are
some provisions in the ICT Act, 2006 which mention penalties for various cyberspace related crimes.
For instance, section 54 (1) of this Act declares the offences concerning cyberspace. Then, section-
54(2) says, “If any person commits offences under sub-section (1) of this section, he shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine which may extend
to taka ten lakhs, or with both”.

We can also look at section-56 which says-

“If any person—

(a) with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the
public or any person, does any act and thereby destroys, deletes or alters any information residing in a
computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means;

(b) damage through illegal access to any such computer, computer network or any electronic
system which do not belong to him; then such activity shall be treated as hacking offence;

(c) whoever commits hacking offence under sub-section (1) of this section, he shall be punishable
with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine which may extend to taka
one crore , or with both.”

We can see that law has taken the matter of cyber-crimes in consideration and there are some strict
rules regarding it.

Question – 2: Writ jurisdiction of high court division?

Answer: - Similary High Courts in India are also empowered to issue writs for the enforcement of any
of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose.

Types of Writs
There are five types of Writs - Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo warranto.

1. Habeas Corpus
"Habeas Corpus" is a Latin term which literally means "you may have the body." The writ is issued to
produce a person who has been detained , whether in prison or in private custody, before a court and to
release him if such detention is found illegal.

2. Mandamus
Mandamus is a Latin word, which means "We Command". Mandamus is an order from the Supreme
Court or High Court to a lower court or tribunal or public authority to perform a public or statutory duty.
This writ of command is issued by the Supreme Court or High court when any government, court,
corporation or any public authority has to do a public duty but fails to do so.

3. Certiorari
Literally, Certiorari means to be certified. The writ of certiorari can be issued by the Supreme Court or
any High Court for quashing the order already passed by an inferior court, tribunal or quasi judicial
authority.

4. Prohibition
The Writ of prohibition means to forbid or to stop and it is popularly known as 'Stay Order'. This writ is
issued when a lower court or a body tries to transgress the limits or powers vested in it. The writ of
prohibition is issued by any High Court or the Supreme Court to any inferior court, or quasi judicial body
prohibiting the latter from continuing the proceedings in a particular case, where it has no jurisdiction to
try. After the issue of this writ, proceedings in the lower court etc. come to a stop.

5. The Writ of Quo-Warranto

The word Quo-Warranto literally means "by what warrants?" or "what is your authority"? It is a writ
issued with a view to restrain a person from holding a public office to which he is not entitled. The writ
requires the concerned person to explain to the Court by what authority he holds the office. If a person has
usurped a public office, the Court may direct him not to carry out any activities in the office or may
announce the office to be vacant. Thus High Court may issue a writ of quo-warranto if a person holds an
office beyond his retirement age.