First and Second Amendment

In 1973, the Constitution (First Amendment) Act 1973 was

passed. It amended Article 47 of the constitution by inserting an
additional clause which allowed prosecution and punishment of
any person accused of 'genocide, crimes against humanity or
war crimes and other crimes under international law'. After
Article 47 it inserted a new Article 47A specifying
inapplicability of certain fundamental rights in those cases.

The original Constitution did not have any provision for

proclamation of state of emergency and preventive detention. By
the Constitution (Second Amendment) Act 1973, Article 33 was
amended providing for preventive detention and Part IXA was
inserted conferring power on Parliament and the Executive to
deal with emergency situations and providing for suspension of
enforcement of the fundamental rights during the period of
emergency.
 Third Amendment

The Constitution (Third Amendment) Act 1974 was enacted on 28

November 1974 by bringing in changes in Article 2 of the constitution with a
view to giving effect to an agreement between Bangladesh and India in
respect of exchange of certain enclaves and fixation of boundary lines
between India and Bangladesh.

The agreement is also known as Sheikh Mujibur Rahmaa-Indira

Gandhi treaty.

Bangladesh gave up the claim in respect of South Berubari enclave and

retained Dahagram and Angorpota enclave. However, dispute remained
regarding the transfer of “teen bigha corridor” by India to Bangladesh.
The dispute was partially solved in 2011 through the lease of this
corridor to Bangladesh by India.
 Fourth Amendment
 The Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Act 1975 was made on January 25 th.It
made major changes into the Constitution. The presidential form of
government was introduced in place of the parliamentary system; a one-
party system in place of a multi-party system was introduced; the powers
of the Parliament were curtailed; the Supreme Court was deprived of its
jurisdiction over the protection and enforcement of fundamental rights,
“floor crossing” of MP’s was prohibited.

 The amendment was made in the wake of the 1974 Bangladesh famine and
the state of Emergency that was imposed on December 1974. The changing
political ideologies within the country also played a major role.

 This amendment is one of the most controversial amendments of

Bangladesh’s constitution and has had huge impact on the history of
Bangladesh.
 Fifth Amendment
 The Constitution (Fifth Amendment) Act was passed by the
Jatiya Sangsad on 6 April 1979. This Act amended the
Fourth Schedule to the Constitution by adding a new
Paragraph 18 thereto, which provided that all amendments,
additions, modifications, substitutions and omissions made
in the Constitution during the period between 15 August
1975 and 9 April 1979 (both days inclusive) by any
Proclamation or Proclamation Order of the Martial Law
Authorities had been validly made and would not be called
in question in or before any court or tribunal or authority on
any ground whatsoever.
◦ .’
 Fifth Amendment
◦ The indemnity ordinance 1975 was legalized through this
amendment. The ordinance was later repealed in 1996 by the
Awami League government paving the path for prosecuting
assassins of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
◦ The expression ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim’ was added
before the Preamble of the Constitution.
◦ The expression ‘historic struggle for national liberation’ in the
Preamble was replaced by ‘a historic war for national
independence.’
◦ One party system was replaced by multiparty parliamentary
system. Fundamental principles of state policy were made as
‘absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism,
democracy and socialism meaning economic and social justice.’
 Sixth & Seventh Amendment
 Sixth Amendment: The Constitution (Sixth Amendment) 1981 was
passed providing, inter alia, that if the Vice President is elected as
President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his office on the date on
which he enters upon the office of President.

 Seventh Amendment: The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1986

was passed ratifying all the Proclamations and Proclamation Orders and
the amendments made in the Constitution by such Proclamations and
Proclamations Orders and all actions of the Martial law authorities and
declaring those to have been validly made and done. By the same Act
the retiring age of the Judges of the Supreme Court was fixed at 65 in
place of 62. This was done to legitimize the actions of General H.M
Ershad under the military rule between 1982 and 1986 (just prior to the
presidential elections).
 Eighth Amendment
 The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act 1988 was
passed amending Article 100 of the Constitution and
thereby setting up six permanent Benches of the High
Court Division outside the capital and authorising the
President to fix by notification the territorial jurisdiction
of the permanent Benches. By the same Act, ‘Islam’ was
made the state religion of Bangladesh . This Act also
amended (i) the word 'Bengali' into 'Bangla' and 'Dacca'
into 'Dhaka' in Article 5 of the Constitution, (ii) Article 30
of the Constitution by prohibiting acceptance of any title,
honours, award or decoration from any foreign state by
any citizen of Bangladesh without the prior approval of
the President.
 Ninth & tenth Amendment
 Ninth Amendment: The Constitution (Ninth Amendment)
Act 1989 was passed in July 1989. This amendment
provided for the direct election of the Vice-President; it
restricted a person in holding the office of the President
for two consecutive terms of five years each; it also
provided that a Vice-President might be appointed in case
of a vacancy, but the appointment must be approved by
the Jatiya Sangsad.
 Tenth Amendment: The Constitution (Tenth Amendment)
Act 1990 amended, among others, Article 65 of the
Constitution, providing for reservation of thirty seats for
the next 10 years in the Jatiya Sangsad exclusively for
women members, to be elected by the members of the
Sangsad.
 Eleventh Amendment
 Eleventh Amendment: The Constitution (11th Amendment) Act 1991
legalised the appointment and oath of Shahabuddin Ahmed, Chief
Justice of Bangladesh, as the Vice President of the Republic and the
resignation tendered to him on 6 December 1990 by the then President
Hussain M Ershad. This Act ratified, confirmed and validated all
powers exercised, all laws and ordinances promulgated, all orders
made and acts and things done, and actions and proceedings taken by
the Vice President as acting President during the period between 6
December 1990 and the day (9 October 1991) of taking over the office
of the President by the new President Abdur Rahman Biswas, duly
elected under the amended provisions of the constitution. The Act also
confirmed and made possible the return of Vice President Shahabuddin
Ahmed to his previous position of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.
 Twelfth Amendment
 Twelfth Amendment: The Constitution (12th Amendment) Act
1991 re-introduced the parliamentary form of government; the
President became the constitutional Head of the State; the
Prime Minister became the executive Head; the cabinet
headed by the Prime Minister became responsible to the Jatiya
Sangsad; the post of the Vice-President was abolished; the
President was required to be elected by the members of the
Jatiya Sangsad.
 Thirteenth Amendment
 Thirteenth Amendment: The Constitution (Thirteenth
Amendment) Act 1996 provided for a non-party Caretaker
Government which, acting as an interim government, would
give all possible aid and assistance to the Election
Commission for holding the general election of members of
the Jatiya Sangsad peacefully, fairly and impartially. The
caretaker government, comprising the Chief Adviser and not
more than 10 other advisers, would be collectively responsible
to the President and would stand dissolved on the date on
which the Prime Minister entered upon his office after the
Constitution of the new Sangsad.
 Fourteenth Amendment
 Fourteenth Amendment: The Constitutional (fourteenth
Amendment) Act 1994 was passed providing, among others,
the following provisions: reservation of 45 seats for women
on a proportional representation basis for the next 10 years;
increase in the retirement age of Supreme Court Judges from
65 to 67 years; and displaying of portraits of the President and
the Prime Minister in all government, semi-government and
autonomous offices and diplomatic missions abroad.
 Fifteenth Amendment
 Fifteenth Amendment: Fifteenth Amendment Act The
Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act 2011 was passed on
25 June 2011 having amendment to the Constitution restoring
secularism and freedom of religion, incorporating
nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism as the
fundamental principles of the state policy.
 The Constitution now also acknowledged the country's
liberation war hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of
the Nation.
 The Amendment scrapped the system of Caretaker
Government, increased number of women reserve seats to 50
from existing 45 and inserted Articles 7(a) and 7(b) in the
Constitution after Article 7 in a bid to end take over of power
through extra-constitutional means.
 Sixteenth Amendment
 The 16th amendment to the constitution — passed on
September 17, 2014— empowered parliament to remove
judges of the Supreme Court for their incompetence or
misconduct based on a two-thirds majority.

 The Supreme Court scrapped the 16th amendment on the

ground that it undermined the independence of the judiciary.
Nullifying parliament's power to remove judges, the apex
court reinstated the Supreme Judicial Council for the removal
of errant judges.
 Seventeenth Amendment
 The 17th amendment to the constitution increased the tenure
of 50 lawmakers who are elected in the women reserved seat
to 25 years.