Staff Reporter:
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul yesterday said it would not be easy for the next government to ignore the people’s expectation for reforms.
“The government that would assume office next will come following the martyrdom of more than a thousand people and severe injuries, including loss of limbs, to thousands more. The people of Bangla-desh have never endured such sufferings or made such sacrifices for any reform or state repairing. So, it will not be easy to overlook their expectations,” he said.
Dr Nazrul made the remarks while addressing a view-exchange meeting as the chief guest on the publi-cation of the first draft of The Government Attorney Service Ordinance, 2025, held at the Judicial Ad-ministration Training Institute (JATI) in the capital.
Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Mu-hammad Tajul Islam, Law and Justice Division Secretary Sheikh Abu Taher, Additional Attorney Gen-erals Mohammad Arshadur Rouf and Aneek Rushd Haque, Home Ministry’s Special Prosecutorial Assis-tant Ehsanul Haque Somaji, Supreme Court lawyers Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Dr Sharif Bhuiyan and Barrister Tanim Hossain Shawan, US Embassy Resident Legal Advisor Rahul Kale, BGB Public Prosecutor Md Borhan Uddin, and Dhaka District and Sessions Judge Court Public Prosecutor Md Iqbal Hossain also spoke at the event.
Law and Justice Division Deputy Solicitor Dr Aminul Islam presented the draft ordinance and responded to various queries.
Describing a career prosecution service as one of the judiciary’s longstanding expectations, Dr Asif Nazrul said a similar ordinance was enacted in 2008, but it did not survive.
“We tried to understand why it failed. I believe the ordinance was overly ambitious. That’s why we’ve taken a fresh initiative. It needs some degree of control from the ruling political party. In a country like ours, expecting zero political influence is unrealistic. Therefore, incremental reform would be more practical,” he explained.
The law adviser further noted that while Bangladesh has had several opportunities for systemic reform – particularly after 1971 and again in 1991- those chances were not properly utilized.
“If we fail to seize this opportunity to repair the state, establish rule of law and ensure human rights, we may not get another such chances in ages,” he cautioned.
