Monday, June 16, 2014

New disciplinary legislation for Bangladesh coast guard

The Bangladesh cabinet has approved in principle a disciplinary statute for the nation's coast guard. According to this report in the Daily Star:
The cabinet also approved the draft of Bangladesh Coast Guard Act 2014 with a provision of capital punishment for mutiny offences.
The proposed law has been approved to make the Coast Guard a disciplined, skilled and effective force, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting.
The law has outlined steps for various mutiny-related offences, trial procedures, formation of court martial and provision for appeal, among others, he said.
The previous law, formulated in 1994, was incomplete as there was no specific directive about discipline among Coast Guard members, Musharraf said.
While drafting the new law, assistance has been taken from the newly-formulated Border Guard Bangladesh Act, the Navy, and Ministry of Public Administration.
The cabinet also directed the authorities concerned to review the draft and make necessary suggestions before sending it to the law ministry for vetting, he said.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard Act 1994 can be found here.  Section 9 provides:
9. Discipline of the Armed Force.--(1) Every member of the Armed Force shall be bound to execute any legal order of the Director-General or of any authority surpassing such member in rank. 
(2) All matters relating to the discipline of the members of the Armed Force shall be determined by rules: 
Provided that the provisions of the Bangladesh Rifles Order, 1972 (PO No.148 of 1972) shall, as far as possible, be applicable in disciplinary matters of the members of the Armed Force until the said rules have been made: 
Provided further that in the case of any member from any disciplined force compulsorily enrolled in the Armed Force under section 5 the provisions of the Act establishing the said disciplined force shall be applicable.
The text of the measure now under consideration is apparently not available online. 

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