BLAST has a long track record in conducting public interest litigation before the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, often in collaboration with other concerned organisations or individuals. These petitions have resulted in judicial orders for government action to comply with statutory duties and have led to expanded interpretations of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Bangladesh, relating to the rights to equality and non-discrimination (focused on discrimination related to gender, religion, caste, disability), life, liberty, freedom of expression, and the rights to health, education, and work, as well as to housing, land and property among others.

Our significant PIL petitions include:

  • challenging arbitrary arrests and unreasonable police remand and obtaining guidelines to safeguard persons under arrest or in police custody
  • challenging delays in trials of under-trial prisoners
  • challenging incarceration of children in prisons
  • challenging continued detention of foreigners who have overstayed their sentence in prisons
  • preventing forced eviction and displacement and securing alternative rehabilitation of slum dwellers
  • securing consumer safety and health rights
  • seeking protection of workers’ rights for safety in the workplace
  • challenging gender discrimination in public employment
  • challenging the failure of state authorities to ensure safety and security of women through taking action against extra-judicial penalties by informal village tribunals
  • obtaining directions to ensure effective action against government servants for sexual harassment
  • ensuring effective and participatory local government by challenging the establishment of bodies to be controlled by central government
  • ensuring enforcement of safety standards in public transport
  • ensuring accountability of public representatives by referring their payment of dues to public bodies
  • directions for the establishment of courts and furthering the separation of the judiciary from the executive in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Visit our Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Repository to see a compilation of PIL cases in Bangladesh.