Bangladesh's current legal and judicial system owes a great deal to the nearly two hundred years of

British rule in the Indian subcontinent, although some elements of it were adopted as remnants of the
pre-British Hindu and Muslim regimes. It develops gradually as a historical process passing through
different stages. The process of development was partly indigenous and partly foreign and resulted in a
mixed legal system combining both Indo-Mughal and British systems in terms of structure, legal concepts
and principles. The Indian subcontinent has a rich history of Muslim and Hindu rule dating back more
than five hundred years to the British period. Each regime had its own distinct legal system

About fifteen hundred years ago and after the beginning of the Christian era, the Hindu period
expanded. At that time ancient India was divided into several independent states and the king was the
supreme ruler of each state. In the context of judicial system or justice, the king was considered as the
source of justice and was the highest authority in the administration of justice in his reign.

1100 A.D. The Muslim period began as a result of the invasion and conquest of the Muslim rulers in the
Indian subcontinent. At the beginning of the eleventh century and at the turn of the twelfth century, the
Hindu kingdom gradually disintegrated in the face of attacks by Muslim rulers. When the Muslims
conquered all the kingdoms, they brought with them doctrines based on their religious book, the Holy
Qur'an. According to the Holy Qur'an, sovereignty is vested in the hands of Almighty Allah and the king is
a loyal servant who carries out the will and command of Allah on earth. The ruler was the chosen
representative and guardian of Almighty Allah.

During the British period, some officers of the British royal chartered East India Company undertook the
task of modernizing India's ancient law and judicial system. The East India Company successively took
over and established control over Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, which later became known as
'Presidency Towns'. The company participated in the administration of justice in cooperation with the
local authorities. The Charter of 1726 issued by King George I served as the first step in the introduction
of English law and justice in India. It was through this that the East India Company was allowed to trade.
Later, King George II issued a new charter in 1753 in order to eliminate the defects of this charter. A
secret committee of the House of Commons intervened to develop this system and passed the
Regulation Act, 1773, under which the king issued a separate charter in 1774 to establish the Supreme
Court, the highest court of justice at Calcutta. Later Supreme Courts were established in Madras in 1801
and in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1824.

In India, the first Law Commission was established in 1853 and an All India Legislature was created
whose laws were binding on all courts. At that time, the East India Company was dissolved and after the
first independence movement of 1857, i.e. the Sepoy Revolution, India was taken over by the British King
in 1858. Civil Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Penal Code, Evidence Act etc. were enacted during
that time and in general legal framework the British Legislature enacted the Indian High Court Act in
1861 which replaced the existing Supreme Court established in three Presidency cities (Calcutta, Bombay
and Madras). High Court was established. After the establishment of the High Court, a regular hierarchy
of civil and criminal courts was established through the Civil Courts Act, 1887 and the Criminal Procedure
Act, 1898. The legal basis for the existing system of civil and criminal courts in the Indian subcontinent is
the Civil Courts Act, 1887 and the Criminal Procedure Act, 1898. On August 15, 1947, the British
Legislature declared India and Pakistan as independent states under the Indian Independence Act, 1947.
According to this Act, until new constitutions are drawn up for independent India and Pakistan, the
governments of these two countries will be governed by the Government of India Act, 1935. The
structure of the Judiciary has largely remained as it was before 1947.

The Government of India Act of 1935 brought changes in the way the government was formed. As a
result, the system of governance changed from a unitary or centralized system of government to a
federal system. According to the provisions of this Act, the Federal Courts in both India and Pakistan are
kept in operation until new constitutions are drafted.

The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed the 'Privy Council (Abolition of Jurisdiction) Act, 1950'
which abolished the system of appeals from the Federal Court of Pakistan to the Privy Council. The
Federal Court served as the highest court of Pakistan until the introduction of the new constitution in
1956, when High Courts were established in the provinces and the Supreme Court of Pakistan at the
Centre. This constitution of Pakistan was repealed in 1958 and a new constitution was introduced in
1962, but the entire judicial structure remained the same. After independence in 1971, Bangladesh
adopted a constitution in 1972 that outlined the structure and functioning of the Supreme Court, which
consisted of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division. It may be noted that the subordinate
judiciary of Bangladesh, both civil and criminal, originated from the Civil Courts Act, 1887 and the
Criminal Procedure Act, 1898. There are also some other special laws in Bangladesh, which act as the
basis for some special courts, such as - Labor Court, Child Crime Court, Administrative Tribunal etc.