Prior to 1 November 2007, the court of Magistrates was manned by officers from Bangladesh Civil Service. Through an Ordinance of 2007, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 was amended and two classes of Magistrates were created, namely Judicial Magistrate and Executive Magistrate. The Ordinance was later substituted by the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 2009. While Judicial Magistrates are appointed from the persons employed in Bangladesh Judicial Service, Executive Magistrates are appointed from the members of Bangladesh Civil Service. The Bangladesh High Court on 13 May 2017 issued a verdict that declared the rules under which executive magistrates operate mobile court contrary to the constitution of Bangladesh. Subsequently, the judgment of the High Court Division was challenged by the Government. On 16 January 2018, Bangladesh Supreme Court, Appellate Division granted leave to appeal and stayed the said verdict till disposal of the case.
Types of Executive Magistrate
According to Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, the Government may, if it thinks expedient or necessary, appoint any persons employed in the Bangladesh Civil Service to be an Executive Magistrate and confer the powers of an Executive Magistrate on any such member. Besides, it is also mentioned in Section 10 of the said Code that all persons appointed as Assistant Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners or Upazila Nirbahi Officer in any District or Upazila shall be Executive Magistrates and may exercise the power of Executive Magistrate within their existing respective local areas. In every administrative district, there are following Executive Magistrates as per Section 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898:
District Magistrate : In every district and in every Metropolitan Area, the Government shall appoint as many persons as it thinks fit to be Executive Magistrates and shall appoint one of them to be the District Magistrate.
Additional District Magistrate : The Government may also appoint any Executive Magistrate to be an Additional District Magistrate, and such Additional District Magistrate shall have all or any of the powers of a District Magistrate under this Code or under any other law for the time being in force, as the Government may direct.
Additional Deputy Commissioner : All the ADCs in the district are Executive Magistrate.
According to Schedule III of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, an Executive Magistrate has the following powers: V. Ordinary Powers of an Executive Magistrate. Power to arrest, or to direct the arrest of and to commit to custody, a person committing an offence in presence of the Magistrate, section 64. Power to arrest, or direct the arrest in his presence of a person for whose arrest he can issue warrant, section 65. Power to endorse a warrant or to order the removal of an accused person arrested under a warrant section 83, 84, 86. Power to cause search by postal and telegraph authority for documents etc. and to detain them. Section 95. Power to issue search-warrant for discovery of persons wrongfully confined, Section 100. Power to direct search, in his presence of any place for the search of which he can issue search-warrant. Section 105. Power to require security to keep peace. Section 107. 404 Criminal Procedure In addition to the powers mentioned above, any Executive Magistrate may be empowered by the Government as well as by the District Magistrate within respective jurisdiction to operate mobile court under the Mobile Court Act, 2009. This Act has a Schedule which contains a list of laws upon which mobile courts are administered. Under this Act, the Executive Magistrate may take into cognizance the offences committed in his/her presence or unfolded before him or her on the spot of the occurrence. Upon confession of the accused, the said Magistrate can sentence the offender as per the concerned law, but in case of imprisonment, not exceeding two years.
