Focus Keyword: Environment Court Act 2010
In response to various international conventions, treaties and protocols, Bangladesh has developed a new environmental legal regime, including environmental governance institutions. From 2000, after the enactment of the Environment Court Act, a specialised environmental court system has been introduced in the legal system of Bangladesh. In pursuance of the Environment Court Act, 2000, vide a gazette notification dated 6 March, 2002, two special courts with Joint District Judges were set up in Dhaka and Chittagong divisions, to deal with environmental offences only. An Environment Appellate Court was established in Dhaka for the whole of Bangladesh. The Act of 2000 also empowered Magistrates of the first class or Metropolitan Magistrates to deal with environmental offences punishable with less than two years’ imprisonment or taka 10,000 as a fine or both. The Act was amended in 2002 to allow the Joint District Judge/s for a Division to act as judges of the Environment Court in addition to their ordinary functions. Since 2005, the Joint District Judge’s Court of Sylhet has been functioning as an Environment Court in addition to its ordinary functions.
In 2010, a fresh Environment Court Act (Bangladesh Environment Court Act, 2010) was passed, and the Act of 2000 was repealed. The present Act is aimed at establishing one or more Environment Court/s in each district with a Joint District Judge, and the said judge shall, in addition to his ordinary function, dispose of the cases that fall within the jurisdiction of an Environment Court. The present Act has not mandated a separate or independent Environment Court. So far, no more Environment Courts have been established till now except the former three Courts and an Appellate Court. Like the previous Act, the Act of 2010 also provides for the establishment of one or more Special Magistrate Court/s with the Magistrates of the first class or Metropolitan Magistrates in each District to deal with offences punishable with less than 5 (five) years imprisonment or 5 (five) lac taka as fine or both. Except for these two types of courts, there are Executive Magistrates functioning under the Mobile Court Act, 2009. They can take cognizance of some offences on the spot and convict the accused on the basis of his/her confession. Under almost all the environmental laws, there is a provision to run a Mobile Court.
Let’s observe the case filing scenario of these three Environment Courts and the Environment Appellate Court:
Dhaka Divisional Environment Court started its journey in 2003, and till June, 2015, almost 467 cases have been filed; among these, 350 cases have been disposed and 117 cases are pending now. It is worth mentioning that, in 2015 (till June) only 1 case has been filed in this court.
Chittagong Divisional Environment Court started its journey in 2002, and till June, 2015 almost 350 cases have been filed; among these, 250 cases are pending now.
Sylhet Joint District Judge’s Court started its journey in 2005, and by June 2015, almost 467 cases had been filed; among these, more than 300 cases are pending.
The only Environment Appellate Court of the country, situated at Dhaka, started its journey from 2005 and till 2015 (June), only 43 appeals had been filed in this court. In the last two years, only 1 appeal has been filed in the said Court.
In the Environment Courts of Bangladesh, an average of 100 cases are filed in every year. While in the Environment Control Board of New York City, almost 7 lakh cases are filed every year.
In global statistics, our Environment Courts have the lowest case filing rate.
All over the world specialized environmental judicial system is becoming more popular than ever. But the situation is totally different in Bangladesh. It is clear from the above mentioned case filing rates that the common people’s aspirations are not reflected in the Environment Courts of Bangladesh vis-à-vis Courts cannot protect the environmental rights of common people. Where the ordinary courts of Bangladesh are overcrowded with excessive suits/cases and burdened with heavy loads but paucity of cases in the Environment Courts is really ill-matched. Environmental problems of Bangladesh are increasing day by day, but why are common people not coming to the Environment Courts?
The following are the important causes behind people’s lower involvement with Environment Courts:
1. This Act has not recognised the common people’s right of access to Environment Courts directly. Where Sec. 17 of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 says that, where a person or a group of persons or the public suffers loss due to violation of a provision of this Act or the rules made thereunder that person, group of persons, the public or the Director General on behalf of that person, group of persons or the public may file a suit for compensation before the Environment Court; but Sec. 7(4) of the Environment Court Act, 2010 imposes a bar that, no Environment Court shall receive any claim for compensation under environmental law except on the written report of an Inspector of the Department of Environment (DoE). Even Sec. 6(3) of the Environment Court Act, 2010 says that no Special Magistrate Court shall take cognizance of an offence except on the written report of an Inspector of DoE. There is an exception of this provision which is more complicated; that is, if the Environment Court/ Special Magistrate Court is satisfied that a person presented a written request to the said Inspector to accept a claim for compensation/ a complaint and no action was taken within 60 (sixty) days after such request, and that such claim/ complain deserves to be taken into cognizance for the purpose of trail, then the Court may, after giving the Inspector or the Director General a reasonable opportunity of being heard, directly receive the claim for compensation/ complain without such written report, or may, if it considers appropriate, direct the said Inspector to investigate the claim/ offence. So it is clear that the common people have no right to sue or file a case in the Environment Court directly.
2. From the mandate of the Act, it is clear that Environment Courts have been established only for DoE. Because the primary responsibility to file a suit/ case and investigation thereof is vested in the DoE. The establishment and smooth functioning of Environment Courts depend on DoE. Though the Act aimed to establish one or more Environment Courts in 64 districts, in reality, DoE has offices only in 21 districts with only one inspector in each office. So it is practically impossible to establish the Environment Court without the office and manpower of DoE.
3. The jurisdiction of the Environment Court is not clear. Environment Court can only entertain offences and claims for compensation under ‘environmental law’; Sec. 2(c) of the Act defines ‘environmental law’ to include the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 and such other laws as may be subsequently specified by the Government in the official Gazette. But in the last 16 years, the government has not issued any gazette notification to include any other Act. The Brick Manufacturing and Brick kilns Establishment (Control) Act, 2013, specifically mentioned in Sec. 19(2)that, only Environment Court or the Special Magistrate’s Court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act. Environment Court has no jurisdiction to try offences relating to forest-forest resources, wildlife-biodiversity, fisheries, water resources, and other natural resources.
4. Except for legal matters, a lot of socio-economic matters are included with environmental justice. In most cases, polluters belong to the upper class of society; they have money and muscle power. On the other hand, the victims of environmental pollution/degradation are usually deprived and poor; they don’t dare to file suit/case against those mighty polluters. Sometimes concerned government bodies keep themselves in favour of powerful polluters, so the poor litigants always feel fear and a lack of justice.
5. As per the Act, Environment Courts follow the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act in their judicial functions. Under these existing laws, the complainant has to prove his/her case, and s/he has to bring evidence on behalf of the case. Proving environmental pollution requires technical knowledge and institutional assistance. Common people have no such knowledge, and assistance is not available for them. So the people have lost their interest in Environment Courts for its complicated and lengthy process of filing suit/case and the ordinary procedure of trial.
6. Speedy trial is the main objective behind the establishment of the Environment Court, but the requirements of a written report and inquiry by DoE and ordinary procedural law will undermine the spirit of its establishment.
In Bangladesh, protection and improvement of the environment are intimately related to the protection of people’s lives and livelihoods. To ensure eco-friendly sustainable development instead of indiscriminate development for the present and future generations, we need people-oriented Environment Courts with exclusive jurisdiction on all environmental matters. This Act has to be amended in light of the experiences of successful environment court systems of the world to ensure direct access of the common people.
READ THE RELEVANT ARTICLE : Criticisms on Bangladesh Environment Courts Act 2010
What is the Environment Court Act 2010 in Bangladesh?
The Bangladesh Environment Court Act 2010 was passed to establish specialized Environment Courts and Special Magistrate Courts in every district. These courts are designed exclusively to deal with environmental offences and compensation claims, replacing the earlier 2000 Act.
Can a common citizen file a case directly in the Environment Court?
No. Under Section 7(4) of the Environment Court Act 2010, the court cannot directly receive a claim for environmental compensation from an ordinary citizen. A case can only be filed based on a formal written report from an Inspector of the Department of Environment (DoE).
What happens if the DoE Inspector ignores an environmental complaint?
There is one legal exception. If a citizen submits a written request to the DoE Inspector and no action is taken within 60 days, the Environment Court may directly accept the case after giving the Inspector a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
What types of cases can the Environment Court try?
The court’s jurisdiction is strictly limited. It currently only entertains offences under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act (1995) and the Brick Manufacturing and Brick Kilns Establishment (Control) Act (2013). It does not have jurisdiction over wildlife, forests, or fisheries.
Why are there so few cases filed in Bangladesh’s Environment Courts?
Despite massive environmental issues in Bangladesh, the case filing rate is incredibly low. This is primarily because common people lack direct access to the courts, the heavy reliance on the understaffed Department of Environment (DoE), and the highly technical burden of proving pollution under civil procedural laws.
