Activism, not anarchy

Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday cautioned against "judicial anarchy" and said judicial activism should not cross its boundary.
“We welcome such [public interest litigation] cases in the courts of the country and we very much also appreciate the interest the judiciary showed,” he said.
“But we would like to at least state this, that though we encourage judicial activism, it should not cross the boundary and become judicial anarchy. That is where we would like caution to be maintained,” said the minister while speaking at a seminar in the capital's Brac Centre Inn.
The Australian High Commission in Dhaka organised the seminar titled “Australia and Bangladesh: Sharing Experiences in Protection of Human Rights”.
Anisul's comments came two days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina criticised a High Court bench for ordering the arrest of three dismissed Rab officials over their alleged involvement in the seven-murder in Narayanganj.
Talking about the HC order, the PM on Saturday told reporters at the Gono Bhaban, "When we were still investigating the matter … and before that investigation was complete … you tell us  how come a High Court bench orders arrest of the three [Rab officers]?"
Asked if he was cautioning the judiciary because it had ordered the arrest of three Rab officials, the law minister said he had made the remark considering the overall aspects of the judiciary.
An HC bench on May 11 ordered the government to immediately arrest the three Rab-11 officials, who were forced to retire for their alleged complicity in the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj. In compliance with the order, law enforcers arrested them a week later.
'NO OR VERY WEAK RULE OF LAW'
Earlier, speaking at the seminar, National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman sought the president's intervention in amending the NHRC Act 2009 to make the rights body more effective against “the weak rule of law” in the country.
“When there is no rule of law or very weak rule of law, human rights become the casualty. And that's the case right now in Bangladesh. We can't hide it from anyone. That's the reality," the NHRC boss said.
“The NHRC is a weak institution because of its weak law and we thus made recommendations for a change of the founding NHRC Act 2009. We sent the recommendations to the president seeking his intervention to help the rights body play a far more effective role than it is playing,” he observed.
Mizanur made the comments against the backdrop of numerous complaints regarding human rights violations, such as extra-judicial killings and abductions in the country.
He said some 90 percent of such complaints were against the law enforcers, but the commission was barred from investigating or inquiring into such human rights violations.
Describing the limitations of the NHRC and its poor resources, he said, “We have only 28 positions; eight are capable of making intellectual contributions. Tell me how can it function effectively?”
India has 600-plus staff, Afghanistan 300-plus, Nepal 300-plus and the Maldives 200-plus staff.
However, despite the limitations, people trust the NHRC, he added.
I see that whenever there is a violation of human rights in any corner of the country, people ring me at midnight or even very early in the morning, and ask me to send someone from the NHRC.”
Mizanur claimed they had had bad days, problems, and hindrances but still people were welcoming the NHRC these days.
He said a special desk was set up at the home ministry to deal with queries from the NHRC. “Things are improving."
Eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain in his speech said the NHRC should be empowered further and should be provided with required resources so that it could act effectively.
Later at the seminar, the law minister said human rights issue is "most important" to the government.
He said, "The National Human Rights Commission has been set up, it is independent and it is allowed to probe wherever it finds that there is a deficiency in meeting the standards.
“I would also like to emphasise that the government does not interfere with the work of National Human Rights Commission and it has no intention to do so. We expect that the National Human Rights Commission will be given as such suggestions so that we can at least eradicate the problems in this sector.
“We would also like to emphasise that we are determined to at least ensure the protection that has been given in our constitution so far this subject is concerned."
Australian High Commissioner in Dhaka Greg Wilcock, Supreme Court lawyer Tania Amir and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust Director Sara Hossain also spoke on the occasion.