The Penal Code of Bangladesh is the official criminal code of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It is a comprehensive code designed to govern all areas of

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. The code is largely derived from the penal code of the British Indian Empire enacted in 1860 by the Governor General-in-Council of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. It is similar to the penal codes of countries formerly part of the British Empire in South and Southeast Asia, including

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, India,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, Sri Lanka and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. The Jatiya Sangsad has amended the penal code on several occasions, with the most recent being in 2004. The code is a legacy of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. While its objective is to provide a general penal code for Bangladesh, other criminal law statutes have also been enacted by the Bangladeshi parliament.

History

The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of British India. It was presented to the

Governor of Bengal The Governor was the chief colonial administrator in the Bengal presidency, originally the "Presidency of Fort William" and later "Bengal province". In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to ...

in 1837. While based on the law of Victorian England, it derived elements from the Napoleonic Code and

Louisiana Civil Code The ''Louisiana Civil Code'' (LCC) constitutes the core of private law in the State of Louisiana. The Louisiana Civil Code is based on a more diverse set of sources than the laws of the other 49 states of the United States: substantive law between ...

of 1825. It was adopted on 6 October 1860. When

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

became part of Pakistan after the Partition of British India, the code was known as the Pakistan Penal Code. The code was re-enacted in Bangladesh after the country's independence in 1971.

Chapters

The following includes the chapters of the code. *Chapter I - Introduction *Chapter II - General Explanations *Chapter III - Punishments *Chapter IV - General Exceptions *Chapter V - Abetment *Chapter VA - Criminal Conspiracy *Chapter VI - Offences Against the State *Chapter VII - Offences relating to the Army, Navy or Air Force *Chapter VIII - Offences Against Public Tranquility *Chapter IX - Offences by or relating to Public Servants *Chapter IXA - Offences relating to Elections *Chapter X - Contempts of the Lawful Authority of Public Servants *Chapter XI - False Evidence and Offences Against Public Justice *Chapter XII - Offences relating to Coin and Government Stamps *Chapter XIII - Offences relating to Weights and Measures *Chapter XIV - Offences Affecting the Public Health, Safety, Convenience, Decency and Morals *Chapter XV - Offences relating to Religion *Chapter XVI - Offences affecting the Human Body *Chapter XVII - Offences against Property *Chapter XVIII - Offences relating to Documents and Trade or Property Marks *Chapter XIX - Criminal Breach of Contracts of Service *Chapter XX - Offences relating to Marriage *Chapter XXI - Defamation *Chapter XXII - Criminal Intimidation, Insult, Prejudicial Act and Annoyance *Chapter XXIII - Attempts to Commit Offences

Controversial issues

Sedition

Sedition and seditious libel has been criticized as an outdated law. While the United Kingdom has phased out penalties for seditious libel, its continued presence in the Bangladeshi penal code has been used by the government to target to leading journalists and politicians.

Section 377

Section 377 criminalizes homosexuality, which has been criticized by the

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

movement.

Capital punishment

Capital punishment remains legal in Bangladesh, although other common law countries like the United Kingdom and

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have abolished the death penalty.

References

{{reflist Law of Bangladesh Criminal codes