Every court of Bangladesh possesses jurisdiction over matters only to the extent granted to it by the Constitution of Bangladesh or legislation of this country. The Superior Court of Justice in Bangladesh is named as Supreme Court of Bangladesh followed by a hierarchy of civil and criminal court at the district level. Jurisdiction of all courts of Bangladesh is discussed below-
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
In exercise of powers conferred under Article 94 of the constitution the Apex Court of the country was established which consists of:
Jurisdiction of the Appellate Division -
According to article 103 of the Constitution of Bangladesh jurisdiction of Appellate division are as follows-
- The Appellate Division have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from judgments, decrees, orders or sentences of the High Court Division.
- An appeal to the Appellate Division from a judgment, decree, order or sentence of the High Court Division shall lie as of right where the High Court Division-
- An Appeal from the judgments, decrees, orders or sentences of the High Court Division in a case to which clause (2) does not apply shall lie only if the Appellate Division grants leave to appeal.
- Parliament may by law declare that the provisions of this article shall apply in relation to any other court or tribunal as they apply in relation to the High Court Division.
The Jurisdiction of the High Court Division
The High Court Division has original, appellate and other jurisdictions, powers and functions as are conferred by the Constitution and other laws-
Subordinate Court:
Civil Court:
Jurisdiction of Civil Court-
1. District Judge Court- Revisional jurisdiction , appeal of civil matters valuation of which is upto five crore taka, Probate matters etc.
2. Additional District Judge Court- Try cases transferred to this Court by District Judge.
3.Joint District Judge Court- i) Original Jurisdiction- hearing of civil suit of which valuation is from twenty five lac taka to unlimited,
ii)Try succession matter,
ii) Revision- which case is transferred to this Court by District Judge,
iii)Appeal –which case is transferred to this Court by District judge.
4. Senior Assistant Judge Court- try suits of civil nature of which valuation is fifteen lac to twenty five lac taka.
5. Assistant Judge Court- to try civil suits of which pecuniary jurisdiction is below fifteen lac taka.
6. Small Causes Court– A Small Causes Court shall have jurisdiction to dispose of suits of a civil nature of which the value does not exceed twenty five thousand taka.
7. Family Courts –This court try suits which are of family matters i.e.- dissolution of marriage, dower, custody and guardianship of children, restitution of conjugal rights and maintenance relating to matters.
Criminal Court:
(i) Court of Sessions: There shall be in every division the following Sessions Court-
(a) Sessions Judge
(b) Additional Sessions Judge
(c) Assistant Sessions Judge
For metropolitan area- In every metropolitan area there shall be the following Sessions Court-
(a) Metropolitan Sessions Judge
(b)Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge
( c) Joint Metropolitan Sessions Judge
(ii) Magistrate Court:
For Metropolitan Area- Hierarchy of Magistrate Court for Metropolitan area are discussed below-
All over the country other than Metropolitan Areas-
(a) Chief Judicial Magistrate,
(b) Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate,
(c) Magistrate of the first Class,
(d) Magistrate of the Second Class,
(e) Magistrate of the Third Class.
Jurisdiction of Criminal Court:
Tribunals and Special Court-
The International Crimes Tribunal-
This Tribunal was constituted for the purpose of trial of offences such as-
(a) Crime against Humanity,
(b) Crime against peace,
(c) Genocide,
(d) war crime,
(e) Violation of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid down in the Geneva conventions, 1949,
(f) Any other crime under the International Law.