BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (BILIA)

BILIA has been the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs for over -----. It’s mission is to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all.

BILIA’s pursues its mission:

About BILIA

In 1961, the Pakistan Law Institute was set up under the Chairmanship of Mr. A. K. Brohi, Messrs Kemaluddin Hossain, Mr. K. M. Subhan, Mr. F. K. M. A. Munim, Dr. Kamal Hossain, Dr. M. Zahir and few other eminent jurists were members of the Institute. The Institute was housed in the Old High Court Building Annexe. Mr. K. M. Subhan, Barrister-at-Law, later Supreme Court Justice, was a member of the drafting committee of the constitution of the Pakistan Law Institute.

The Institute was established to promote the principles and ideals of democracy, with an aim to firmly establish and strengthen democratic institutions in the country through transparency and accountability. As a matter of fact, as the oldest Institution of its kind, it is aiming to be a centre of excellence in the country.

The then Law Minister Dr. Kamal Hossain initiated the proposal on the instruction of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The first draft note was prepared by then Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, late Shah A.M.S. Kibria. As Foreign Minister, late Mr. Abdus Samad Azad was the first President and Dr. Kamal Hossain, the Chairman of BILIA.

During the war of liberation the Institute was attacked by the Pakistan army because some minority community members took shelter in the library rooms after the KALI Temple in the Race Course was ransacked by the marauding Pakistan army. One book in particular pierced with the Pakistan army bullet is still preserved in the BILIA Library. The book titled as International Law: A Treatise, written by L. Oppenheim and edited by H. Lauterpacht. The volume was on ‘Disputes, War and Neutrality-vol. II’.

Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs BILIA provides a forum for lawyers and policy-makers to discuss international legal issues and their practical application to current problems in international relations. Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) is one of the leading institutes in Bangladesh for the analysis of issues relating to law and international affairs. BILIA was established on June 30, 1972 with the assets of the Pakistan Law Institute. It started its journey as an independent research centre and as the think-tank of the nation in the field of law and international affairs with a vision to establish rule of law, human rights, good governance, international cooperation and understanding.

Ever since its inception, BILIA has received the confidence, trust and apperception at home and abroad, as a centre for its quality research, publication, judicial and other training programmes and dissemination of knowledge. Continuing research and training activities in the fields of law and international affairs has been the source of BILIA’s strength. Over the years, BILIA has been conducting programmes in the fields of law, human rights, economics, sustainable development, environment, foreign policy and other areas of national and international concern.

Research, Training and Events:

The research team is core to all activities and BILIA’s aims to set the agenda and shape policy by encouraging new ideas and forward thinking in international affairs. Research focuses on key regions of the world – Building a cooperative framework for the management and utilization of shared water resources: developing a non-partisan consensus, Border security and Indo-Bangla relations in the context of the 1974 MOU and 1975 Agreements, The Bangladesh Extradition Act 1974 and the recent proposal of India : An analytical review of Indo-Bangla security dilemma in light of desire of both the countries in combating cross-border terrorism and building a bilateral consensus between India and Bangladesh, a critical analysis of the cases of Anup Chetia and Sanjeev Dev Barman and the need for Extradition Treaty between India and Bangladesh, Rule of law & good governance, Election Commission and electoral reforms in Bangladesh: experience of India and Sri-Lanka, Foreign Policy of Bangladesh: building consensus on bipartisan basis keeping in view friendly relations with neighbours, particularly with India, Freedom of press & other media: impact on the nascent democracy of Bangladesh, as well as addressing wide-ranging themes including Energy, Environment and Development as well as International Economics, International Law and International Security.

BILIA’s research team aims to help set the agenda and shape policy by encouraging new ideas and forward thinking in international affairs. BILIA is focused many research areas which undertake a range of activities including commissioning and writing books, reports, briefing papers and articles; organizing workshops and seminars; and providing media commentary. Added to an established track record in area studies, the analysis of regional conflicts, the examination of energy, sustainable development and environmental issues, international economics, political risk assessment and defence and security studies BILIA is developing new cross-cutting work on international law, governance, migration, terrorism, identity politics, the nuclear debate, HIV/AIDS, the policy implications of climate change, the role of NGOs, resource scarcity and supply chains.

BILIA Judicial Training is highly participatory in nature, and characterized by ‘question & answer’ sessions. In every training session, there is a slot allocated for participants to ask questions, make comments and share first hand experiences. The interaction sessions also help the participants in building rapport with their colleagues from various districts. BILIA invites more than one resource person in a training session. In addition to Law Books, BILIA is giving books on disciplines like History, Management, Political Science, Philosophy and Literature to motivate them to study more and become useful citizens in the knowledge society of the 21st century.

The Judiciary being the guardian of all the public sectors and protector of rights of people demands the most efficient and effective functioning. With this broad vision, BILIA launched its judicial training programme back in 1985 as first ever effort of this type in Bangladesh to ameliorate the overall quality of administration of justice. The training was an effort to build a synergy between theory and praxis of judicial reforms and good governance by facilitating an interface between skill building and critical reflection on various dimensions of the issue through a vigorous interaction between experts/resource persons and participating Judges.

The vision of this Training Programme, which has just successfully completed phase 1 and stepped into the phase 2, is to train the Judges on issues which may not have any direct link with their daily works but nourish them with broader aspects of legal system with a humane approach that judges need to be concerned about while issuing the judgment and which subsequently pursue/compel them to write a correct judgment. An important leitmotif of this training programme of BILIA is to put a human face on the application of rule of law and to give the nation a more progressive minded legal professionals and activists. Given the fact that Judges need to interpret the statutes from human rights perspective, immense importance has been given on the human rights aspects in the programme. Thus, the modules/topics for the training are chosen and the discussion proceedings/sessions are developed in a way that may not be necessary for the routine works of the Judges but will widen their critical and analytical capabilities/perceptions with a comprehensive view, keep them aware of the changing social circumstances and emerging issues and help them go beyond their conventional analysis. Themes like independence of judiciary, juvenile justice, environmental laws and gender issues etc have been included in the modules in order to serve this objective/critical need.

As part of its ongoing effort to facilitate the legal reform in the country, BILIA has undertaken as many Judicial Training Programmes for different tiers of Judges from Assistant Judges to District Judges as well as entrant Lawyers for ADR under the support of USAID. It has also played an important role in promoting energy security in Bangladesh and in the region through in-depth research and dialogues, under USAID support. Main objective of the judicial training programme at BILIA is to put a human face in law and training is an essential and integral part of human resources development, especially in the pursuit of providing specialized technical assistance in the country. BILIA as a leading legal and strategic think-tank has advocated for an enabling environment that supports broad based economic growth aimed at alleviating poverty. Economic growth is intrinsically linked with good governance and human security. Judicial capacity building has been occupying a priority consideration in BILIA activities and Judiciary being the guardian of all the public sectors and protector of rights of people demands the most efficient and effective functioning.

At the beginning of any service, the provision of probation is practiced all over the world; judicial service is not an exception and any training is an essential and integral part of human resources development, especially in the pursuit of providing specialized technical assistance in the country. The judiciary being the guardian of all the public sectors and protector of rights of people demands the most efficient and effective functioning. The idea of a judicial training was first courted in 1983. Finally, on November 21, 1985 Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs ((BILIA) as the oldest civil society think-tank of the country launched its judicial training programme for judicial officers for the first time in the history of Bangladesh setting a milestone in judicial governance.

After the completion of one year, a team of the experts from the USA came to evaluate the BILIA Judicial Training Program and recommended for further extension of the program for a period of 4 years. The program continued from 1985 to 1991. BILIA proudly recalls the fact that during this period, 460 judicial officers took training in BILIA. Now almost all the judicial officers of the level of Additional District Judge are trained in BILIA. At that time, BILIA did it as the only such Institution in the country thus promoting good governance in Bangladesh.

Modern training highly discourages lecture methods, for it does not keep any space for the participants to express their opinion; therefore, the session becomes monotonous and boring. From such training, the participants hardly develop any interest in the discussed topic. BILIA Judicial Training is highly participatory in nature, and characterized by ‘question & answer’ sessions. In every training session, there is a slot allocated for participants to ask questions, make comments and share first hand experiences. It helps the participants to get the pros and cons of the topic. In this way, the participating judges can also get an overall scenario of the present drawbacks of justice delivery system all over the country. The interaction sessions also help the participants in building rapport with their colleagues from various districts.

BILIA invites more than one resource person does in a training session. A combination of academia, activist and judge in the panel of resource persons helps the participating judges to have different perspectives of a problem. Interaction with the human rights activists really inspire and motivate the judicial officers to look beyond the traditional approaches, which will eventually make the judiciary more and more people friendly. Judiciary with the system of laws and institutions being responsible to protect the rights of individuals to live work and enjoy fundamental freedom forms the foundation of social justice and equality. The legal system of a country therefore, must uphold the equal rights and inherent human dignity of all human being as an essential pre-condition of democracy and good governance. It is the judicial officers, who have the power to interpret laws to the benefit of the vulnerable sections of the society. BILIA tends to motivate the participating judges in this regard.

Training curriculum in BILIA is not a rigid one, rather the curriculum is being changed, updated and amended frequently to accommodate recent developments of law in it. Some topics like Intellectual Property Rights, Environmental Law, Protection of Consumer Rights are now included in BILIA training curriculum. The wave of globalization has touched every sector including judiciary. Judicial systems in various countries are gradually moving towards a uniform structure. To deal with these changes, training for the judicial officers is a must. Having this in mind, BILIA authority is constantly exploring new area and developing new modules for judicial training workshops.

With the support and assistance of the Asia Foundation, BILIA is giving some different sort of books to the participating judges covering some different disciplines like history, management, political science, philosophy etc. BILIA honestly tries to make its training programmes more substantives, motivating, and a resource of interactive learning for the young judicial officers of the country. BILIA is progressive with a vision of ameliorating the quality of justice in Bangladesh. That’s why its main focus is on human rights and good governance. Beginning from June 19, 2003 BILIA has so far trained 75 Assistant Judges, 50 Senior Assistant Judges, 60 Joint District Judges, 30 Additional District Judges and 25 District Judges.

On going Research Study:

BILIA takes pride in undertaking the landmark workshop and Policy Seminar on Private Sector Infrastructure Development (PSID) from February 17th to March 1st 2001, which is a legal training program for the government officials and private sector entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. This will also be a prelude to develop collaborative relationship with the experts on professionals and other organizations in judicial reform area, both at home and abroad. This workshop has been sponsored by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Rome with financial support of Asian Development Bank (ADB). During 2003 BILIA has organized three important training workshops and imparted legal training on Alternative Dispute Resolutions to 50 entrant lawyers and 30 Joint District Judges as well as 50 Assistant Judges were given judicial training to complement ongoing legal and judicial reform efforts under the USAID sponsored project. This series of training programmes on Judicial Reforms and Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) will continue upto June 2005.

National and International Seminars:

The Institute has undertaken various policy-oriented research and organized many National and International seminars including International Trade Law, Secularism in Bangladesh, Human Rights and sustainable development, Post Uruguay prospect and problems of Bangladesh, Nuclear detonation by India and Pakistan in May 1998. Economic and legal consequences and security impact in south Asia and beyond, The study of the Universe and its philosophical and social implications. In 1973 the institute drafted the International War Crimes Tribunal, which was adopted in the parliament as the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973. The Third International Criminal Law Conference organized by BILIA in 1974 for drafting the statute for an International Criminal Court, Domestic and International Aspects of Energy Security in Bangladesh, Economics of Gas Utilization. Roundtable Discussion on Developing Bangladesh’s Gas Resources, Energy Sector Legislation and its Implementation: Basic Issues in Energy Partnership between Developed and Developing Countries, National Roundtable on Gas Strategy in Bangladesh.

The Institute played a role in organizing various programmes including policy workshop on Private Sector Infrastructure Development (PSID) sponsored by Asian Development Bank, legislative drafting under Commonwealth support and research dialogues and interactive meetings on various issues of national and international importance.

Regular Publications of the Institute includes:

BILIA is also home to the internationally renowned journal International Affairs published two times a year, and also the journal of Law twice a year. Journal of International Affairs and Journal of Law is World wide leading journal of international relations and law related. These are committed to excellence in scholarship and accessibility in style, combining policy relevance with an academic, in-depth analytical approach to contemporary world politics. International Affairs seeks to be rigorous and original in its analysis and to be a reference point for experts in the field. It aims to address important subjects systematically and to attract exceptional international authors who will provoke argument and debate.

Besides, over the past twenty years it has published Bangladesh Supreme Court Report studies in law and international affairs on the national, regional and international planes. The studies both published and unpublished have related, inter alia, to Women and Development, Bangladesh Legal System, Legal Aspects of Population Planning, Delay in Courts and Court Management, Legal Aspects of New International Economic Order, Land and Water Rights, Prevailing Scenario of Industrial Women Workers in Bangladesh, Constitutional Law of Bangladesh, Legal Status of Women in Bangladesh, Guidance to Trial Judges, Legal Aspects of Martial Law, Judicial Training in the New Millennium, evsjvi ivRbxwZ‡Z D`vicš’x gymwjg ivRbxwZK‡`i f~wgKv (1905-1925) BgwZqvR Avn‡g`, 2002, Bangladesh Journal of Law, Journal of International Affairs, Special Issue on President Bill Clinton’s visit to South Asia, Dialogue Series on Energy, Chinese Military Modernization: Implications for the Region Human Rights in Bangladesh: A Study of Standards & Practices (Project sponsored by Ford Foundation) Civil Procedure Code: 1908 (Bench Book) Project sponsored by Asia Foundation.

Cooperation with other Institutes, Foundations and International Organizations:

BILIA has maintained liaison with a number of Institutions at home and abroad. It has worked in collaboration with the commonwealth Secretariat, UNCTAD, the UNDP, UNCTC, the International Law Association, UNHCR, UNCITRAL and number of other international and independent non-government organization.

Library Services:

BILIA’s Library was formed in 1972 and has one of the longest-established specialist collections of material on international affairs in Bangladesh. The collection focuses on National and International journals, Periodicals, Working Papers, Bulletin etc. While concentrating on current issues and the most recent thirty years, the Library retains significant earlier Documentary Material, particularly on the background to ongoing intractable problems in world affairs. The Institute maintains a library to provide contemporary information sources to scholars, academic, and researchers as well as general readers. A customized library management Software has already been installed and the library is being fully computerized.

Funds and Accounts: Corporate Membership

Corporate Membership is open to all international organizations that recognize the importance of international affairs to their business and wish to further their knowledge and understanding in this key area. Corporate Membership will also enable your business to be recognized as an active member of the global coporate community, to share expertise and exchange opinion on issues of strategic importance to business, and to forge links with other organizations and enterprises with common interests or concerns. For today's members, BILIA remains a market-place for ideas where members, supporters and speakers represent a cross-section of the most influential internationally orientated individuals in business and public life. From involvement in crucial negotiations, to creating front-page news, and with a research team that is core to all its activities, BILIA is vital to anyone with an interest in international affairs. BILIA brings together people and organizations with an interest in international affairs. It’s provide an independent forum in which academics, business people, diplomats, the media, NGOs, politicians, policy-makers and researchers can interact in an open and impartial environment.

An institution like BILIA can play a useful role in strengthening and sensitizing the civil society and in consolidating the rule of Law. This is important in developing countries where democratic values are yet to take firm roots. We welcome funds from Institutions both from inside the country and outside, from Institutions and Foundations, which have a stake in nurturing democracy and democratic values thereby improving governance in Bangladesh.

BILIA is now reorganizing itself to run on the line of Chatham House of London. It is strengthening its liaison with International Institute of Strategic Studies, IISS (London), Rand Corporation, Hudson Institute (USA). CPR, IDSA, TERI in India, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (China), Centre for Development and Democracy (CDD) in Pakistan, MARGA Institute (Sri Lanka), IIDS (Nepal). BILIA is now working on establishing long-term relationship with think tanks in India, Russia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Canada, the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia, France, Italy, Switzerland and other EU Countries. It is working on establishing relationship with South American countries, particularly to share experience with them in their transition from military regimes to Democracy. It is in touch with OAU secretary-general Ambassador Selim A. Selim. BILIA already has links with a South African Institute.