An international expert panel which includes international lawyers and former war crimes prosecutor has submitted a legal opinion to the government about legislation for war crimes trials. According to the report Bangladesh legislation for war crimes trials is not compatible with international standards. Whit this legal opinion the expert lawyers panle has recommended a further 17 changes to the recently amended International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973. Changes contains "significant omissions" regarding protection of rights of those on trial and "out of date" definitions of war crimes.

The War Crimes Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA) formally submitted the written legal opinion at the end of February to the Bangladesh government. The UK's All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, who had requested the legal advice from Govt., has presented the written opinion.

The UK parliamentary group confirmed press that the Bangladesh High Commission in London had confirmed 12 days ago that it had sent the legal advice to the "relevant government authorities" in Bangladesh. A spokesperson from the international expert also said, "We are now waiting for a more substantive reply from the relevant government authorities."
Shafique Ahmed, the Law minister could not be reached for comment as he is staying out of country now but the state minister Kamrul Islam mentioned he had not yet seen the legal opinion. The state minister said "I have not officially received a copy of the document. When the law minister returns and we receive a copy, we will review it."

Trial of 1971 war crimes was among the top election pledges of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government. The government, since coming to power in January last year, has planning for war crimes trials.

20-member expert advisory board  from The International Bar Association (IBA) recommend 17 changes to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, amended by the government last year, though they do acknowledge that the legislation "provides a system that is broadly compatible with current international standards".

The IBA's "area of greatest concern" in the amended Act involves the rights of individuals on trial where there are "some significant omission of the accepted international standards", according to the legal opinion submitted to the government.

The provisions concerning the process of investigation, in particular the rules relating to self-incrimination, are "complicated", "confusing" and "should be removed as unnecessary”.

The legal note raises concerns about definitions of two offences in the Act. It states that the definition of "crimes against humanity" used in the Act "misses an important element of the more modern definition" which says the crimes must be "widespread or systematic" and the accused person must have had "knowledge" of the crimes.


The Act should not allow tribunals to continue in absence of any of its members. The accused must also have the right to challenge the constitution of the tribunal as well as the appointment of its members if "possible prejudice" arises during the trial.


The lawyers advise that sections of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court dealing with rights of suspects during investigations should be included in the Act.

Another proposal is that Article 14 of the International Covenant on Political Rights which sets out "fundamental principles which protect the rights of individuals before a court of law", should be incorporated.

It also says that the offence of "crime against peace" should be deleted as it contains "outdated statutory language which remains undefined in most recent statutes in international criminal law".

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