The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust () is one of the largest legal aid organization in Bangladesh. The trust provides legal aid, a mediation center, legal advocacy, and files public interest legislation. The organization's headquarter is in Dhaka with 19 field offices.

Sara Hossain Sara Hossain is a leading Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a barrister in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Hossain is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a major legal aid provider. Hossain has been at ...

is the Executive Director of the Trust.

History

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust was established in 1993 following a conference of Bangladesh Bar Council in 1992. In 2003, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Gram Sarker Act which was scrapped by the Caretaker Government in 2008. In 2011,

Ain o Salish Kendra The Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) ( bn, আইন ও সালিশ কেন্দ্র (আসক); Centre for Law and Mediation) is a non-government, a national legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangladesh. It is one of the leading h ...

and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust were able to successfully petition the courts to ban corporal punishment in educational institutions in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust filed a public interest legislation along with Naripokkho, Manusher Jonno Foundation, and BRAC Human Rights and Legal Aid Services challenging the legality and constitutionality of Bangladeshi law only identifying women as rape victims. In April 2022, the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka requested Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and

Ain O Salish Kendra The Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) ( bn, আইন ও সালিশ কেন্দ্র (আসক); Centre for Law and Mediation) is a non-government, a national legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangladesh. It is one of the leading h ...

to provide legal aid to a 19 year old Canadian woman who was being prevented from her leaving Bangladesh by her family.

and

ZI Khan Panna ZI Khan Panna is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. He is the chairman of Ain O Salish Kendra, a legal aid organisation in Bangladesh. Panna is a Trustee of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust. He is the chairman of the legal a ...

moved a petition on behalf of the two organization to the High Court Division which ordered the woman to stay with her parents while ordering the parents to return her communication devices during the trial period. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust called for the release of a school teacher who had been arrested for hurting religious sentiments after saying science was based on evidence while religion was based on faith. Ain O Salish Kendra, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, and Nari Pakkho filed a petition challenging the use of character evidence to discredit the victim in rape cases. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust along with the law department of the University of Dhaka and the Death Penalty Project found 72 percent of those sentenced to death in Bangladesh were poor.

Board of Trustee

Kamal Hossain Kamal Hossain (born 20 April 1937) is a founding leader, lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "father of the Bangladeshi constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Hossain currently ...

(Chairman) * Shamsul Bari (Vice-Chairman) * Justice A. F. M. Abdur Rahman * Rabia Bhuiyan * Fazlul Huq *

* A Matin Chowdhury * Tahmina Rahman

References

1993 establishments in Bangladesh Organisations based in Dhaka {{Bangladesh-org-stub