The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, which consists of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division, has held that no court in the country has jurisdiction to entertain bail petitions on crimes registered under the Emergency Powers Rules 2007. The judgment was delivered by the Appellate Division overruling a previous judgment of the High Court Division of the same court.
The controversial judgment of the Appellate Division is perhaps the first judgment ever by a Supreme Court of any country to abdicate its own power of review into matters relating to arrest and detention. The Supreme Court Bar Association has protested this judgment and is boycotting ceremonial events of the Courts. This judgment, amongst others, indicates the alarmingly increasing trend of the subordination of the courts to the executive in Bangladesh.
The Asian Human Rights Commission has received a copy of the Appellate Divisions judgment, which can be found here: http://bangladesh.ahrchk.net/docs/Bangladesh_ADJabdicatingSCpower.pdf
