Administration of international criminal justice in domestic jurisdiction : the Bangladesh perspective

Abstract

This thesis analyses various legal issues surrounding the ongoing domestic trial of certain international crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The trial has been taking place under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 (ICT-BD Act) before the International Crimes Tribunals since 2010. These tribunals, established by the Bangladeshi government pursuant to The ICT-BD Act, are special in nature, and exclusively domestic in composition and functional orientation. Thus far, the tribunals have handed down nearly 50 judgments with convictions and punishments. This trial has both supporters and doubters, nationally and internationally. This thesis seeks to address and dispel some of the controversies arising from the legal issues relevant to the trial and tribunals. The thesis undertakes a systematic investigation of Bangladesh's initiatives in establishing and conducting this trial, against national and international odds, and the significance and contributions of this trial in the context of international criminal law. The thesis establishes that the effectiveness and success of the Bangladesh trial should not be assessed only by highlighting its limitations but also by its achievements in undertaking the challenge of the trials, which even the international community and the UN could not try for many decades. Without this trial, the cycle of impunity would have prevailed over the pursuit of justice. The legacy, significance and precedential effects of the Bangladesh experience are likely to influence future judicial decision-making should a parallel situation emerge in the same way. Bangladesh judges have relied on the precedents and principles of the Nuremberg trials and subsequent ad hoc international crimes tribunals, despite their inadequacies and limitations.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English