Legal Advocacy and Policy Reform Unit

Legal Advocacy and Policy Reform Unit works to protect fundamental rights of the citizens of Bangladesh through Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The Unit also prepares drafts for enacting new laws and provides policy recommendations for legal reform.

The Unit monitors the domestic application of international instruments and observes implementation of positive judgments given by PILs. It has also taken programmes to introduce PIL at the district courts in order to protect the rights of the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. In that endeavor, it has been working to develop capacities of the District Court Lawyers to lodge PILs by using statutory laws.

In the late nineties, ASK realised that it would not be possible to work for human rights without bringing changes in the existing legal procedures, policies and legal structures of Bangladesh. At the same time ASK felt that, lack of accountability of the authorities, who are entitled to ensure human rights of the people through the implementation of existing laws, was another drawback. It also realised that, the changes need to be initiated from the higher level of the legal and judicial structures in order to bring positive results for a greater community and PIL could be an effective tool for achieving this goal. In that time, Public Interest Litigation was comparatively a new approach for the human rights activists of the country. ASK has started to use this approach since 1997. Within a very short period of time, its scope and significance have expanded greatly and thus the need of establishing a separate Unit to deal with the activities related to PIL has been felt.

The Unit established in 2000 to lead and coordinate the activities of ASK which are necessary to bring legal and institutional reforms, to ensure the accountability of GoB and public institutions and to use PIL in establishing people’s fundamental rights and human rights.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES

Conducting Research on HR violations to address it
Conducting training to develop the capacity of District Court Lawyers to file PIL in District Court on certain issues.
Filing and assisting with public interest litigations to secure fundamental rights and to ensure accountability of state authorities about their constitutional and legal duties
Drafting new law and reviewing existing laws and policies to ensure conformity with human rights and preparing recommendations for reform, amendment or repeal as necessary
Engaging in advocacy with state authorities and collaborating with other national and local NGOs to strengthen law and policy reform initiatives, including to seek compliance with the outcome of public interest litigation

In some cases the Unit files PIL in association with other like-minded national human rights organisations.

Legal Advocacy and Policy Reform Unit has achieved some significant directions or judgments from the High Court through PILs.

Some Major PILs of the Unit

Right to Life