Beyond the Gavel: The Twists of Prenatal Sex Detection

 In a recent decision, a divisional bench of the High Court Division (HCD) has imposed embargo on pre-natal sex detection in Bangladesh in order to prevent gender biased sex identification and protect unborn babies and pregnant women. The judgment triggered broader attention among the physicians and the larger community as it promulgated before the International Women’s Day 2024. 

Most news outlets and international agencies circulated that the HCD banned gender detection of fetuses in the mother's womb, but very few reported that it takes a nuanced approach and directed the authorities concerned to adhere to the guidelines prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Those guidelines discouraged the disclosure of fetal gender identification for non-medical or social reasons, but they can detect and reveal the sex for the treatment of the fetus. 

So, it is not clear what discouraged means in this context until we get a detailed judgment and link it with the National Guideline for the Prevention of Son Preference and the Risk of Gender-Based Sex Selection, 2022 of the DHGS thoroughly. We also do not know the consequences of noncompliance yet as only parliament can inflict punishment for the breach of this law. Nonetheless, it is presumed from the statements of the DGHS’s lawyer that the court does not completely ban it, rather restrict it for non-medical or social purposes. Before this, it was not illegal to know whether a parent is expecting a boy or girl in Bangladesh. 

Why take such measures?

It is contended that there are multilayer risks of revealing sex of an unborn child in our society including feticide, termination of pregnancy, forceful sex selective abortion, health hazard for expectant mother, potential physical and mental violence, abandonment, divorce, discrimination, vulnerability, gender imbalance or even death. 

There is a common perception that Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, etc, prefer a male child more than female for various economic, social, cultural, and religious reasons. Thus the probability of termination of the antenatal due to the disclosure of the gender before birth is very real, even if abortion is illegal in this country. The development and wellbeing of the unborn may also be hampered, if the expecting mother goes under severe physical and mental torture from her family to give birth to a boy. It also violates the right to life, right to health and dignity enshrined in the constitution of the country.  

Can this really prevent any gender-based violence?

Now, the question is, can the prohibition or “discouragement” of this disclosure of the sex of unborn babies for non-medical reasons address the concerns of gender inequality and imbalance, women emancipation, torture, inequality, discrimination, right to life, health and dignity, and more? 

Such measures may be regarded as an easy and temporary solution and an ineffective or inhumane attitude to boost the livelihood of our mothers and daughters. There is very limited proof that bans or restrictions have an impact. On the contrary, measures to change societal norms are effective at enhancing gender equity, thereby reducing the demand for sex identification and selection.

Mere nondisclosure of the gender of the fetus cannot prevent the risk of maltreatment towards unwanted girls and their mothers in the household. Even before the evolution of technologies to detect the sex of a fetus, the imbalance in ratios was attributed to killing or neglecting female infants. Furthermore, there will be a rise of several by-lanes to avoid the ruling of the court. 

Non-implementation of law is the most obvious reason for failure in Bangladesh and perhaps that is why the court took a cautious tactic despite having a strict anti-abortion law. Albeit, it is not certain whether the present verdict outlines anything about sex selection too. With the advancement of technology, it is possible to select the sex at the time of conception and during pregnancy. Additionally, who will be responsible for the contravention of the guideline? Shall a pregnant lady who undergoes a sex identification be penalized? The woman may be penalized for something forced on her by her family.

It is also supposed that the poor will be more marginalized through this intervention as affluent sections of the country may fly overseas like Singapore, Thailand, Dubai where neither abortion nor pre-natal gender identification is illegal. Henceforth, the restriction could inadvertently force the underprivileged to explore unsafe and potentially more costly avenues for sex identification. 

No results for India

Indian Supreme Court took an identical position to prohibit antenatal sex detection in 2001 and directed to strengthen their prevailing law. Subsequently, the Indian Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1994 was amended and renamed as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act) to forbid sex selection before and after conception, and to control the use of pre-natal diagnostic practises for detection of certain aberrations. 

The Indian court placed the onus upon the parliament whereas ours preferred bureaucracy. Nonetheless, India also couldn’t benefit from their law. There is still a high gender imbalance, discrimination, inequality, vulnerability prevalent in Indian society today. 

Beyond discouragement or legal measures, a range of other holistic initiatives can decrease male preference and sex detection in society. Major political and legal reform to alter patriarchy and establish equality among all genders; broadening the engagement of women with economic activities and providing financial incentives; establishing equivalence in employment, income, and property enjoyment; political and social efforts to alter present gender norms; societal and media advocacy etc, are mentionable among them.

What about patient autonomy?

A medical practitioner who declines to disclose satisfactory data to the patient can be found negligent, or ultimately responsible for assault in developed jurisdictions as valuing a patient’s autonomy is now a core principle of medical ethics. So how can we define value for the patient’s autonomy in the pre-natal cases? Value for the patient’s autonomy comprises acknowledging the patient’s right to their own values, preferences, interests, and plans, irrespective of them being sensitive to society. Refusing information about fetal gender to check the prospect of an abortion implies a projection about what will be done based on the information given. It is not possible to predict everybody’s preference.  

Additionally, it is reasonable to assume a correlation between unmet strong sex preference that has not been satisfied and a higher risk of perinatal depression. Therefore, informing the gender of the fetus before the birth could facilitate a period of adjustment, reducing the emotional strain faced post-delivery. Also, in the sole situation of gynaecological care, non-disclosure could lead to impressions of powerlessness and resentment, impacting both the pregnancy and the labour negatively. It cannot be denied that, in some cases, revelation of the gender of the fetus may be beneficial for the upcoming parent and eventually for the child as well. 

The verdict triggers a fundamental question about the complicated balance between preventing a projected harm and respecting a patient's autonomy. The feasibility and effectiveness of such medical measures warrant thorough consideration. A more profound societal shift, encompassing legal, political, and cultural reforms, holds the key to addressing the complex web of issues surrounding gender inequality and sex identification and selection. 

In the pursuit of a more equitable and inclusive society, it is imperative to move beyond mere prohibitions and encourage a comprehensive approach that tackles the root causes of these challenges. In navigating the contours of pre-natal sex detection, our focus should extend beyond legal measures and delve into transformative initiatives that foster understanding, equality, and empowerment, thereby fostering a more just and compassionate society for all.

Published in the Daily Samakal as Sub-editorial on 9 March 2024 at page 4.

Published in the Dhaka Tribune as Op-ed (Long Form) on 20 March 2024 at page 5.

Published in The Business Standard as Lead Thoughts (op-ed) on 29 March 2024.

Legal Analytics: A Transformative Frontier in the Legal Industry

Like any other business, the legal industry also adopts technological advancement like legal analytics which includes modern tech tools e.g Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, natural language processing, pattern matching technology etc. to facilitate the process of getting justice. Albeit historically, law and technology barely collaborated with each other to abolish the misery of litigants. There was a lack of innovation suits with the industry’s demand. It is either because of the incomputable nature of law or lack of in-depth research to make technology compatible with the need of legal services. The trend has been changed especially during the time of COVID19 when intervention of technology in judicial processes got wider acceptance all over the planet.

However, the legal industry cannot resist transforming itself with the massive wave of present AI fashioned legal analytics technologies and rapidly evolving digital society. Widespread use in almost every sector coupled with speedy growth of AI creates abundant opportunities for the justice system across the globe. This latest scientific innovation can bring changes to alter the landscape of traditional legal profession by improving existing approaches to fundamental principles of justice like access to justice, transparency, accountability, fairness and so forth.

Legal analytics denotes the use of computational data analysis tools and techniques to analyse data on the operation of the legal system or on the operations of legal professionals and enterprises. Legal analytics consists of many different approaches, for example some AI systems attempt to predict the outcomes of lawsuit, identify the trend of judgments of a particular judge, analyse evidence, mining data from large chunk of documents etc. A legal analytics device is also competent to take the advisory roles by gathering evidence or estimating recidivism rates based on readily available statistics that saves huge amount of time and labour of judges. In addition, it produces accurate data which if done manually is prone to error.

Today’s tech-savvy clients expect demonstrable efficiency, quality, and better outcomes in their litigation. Therefore, basic computational technologies along with legal analytics like AI powered tools are making their way into the legal industry, from legal aid organizations and courts to large law firms, corporate legal departments, and governments as well. Frequent use of these new devices reduces the workload of lawyers and courts, minimizes the cost of litigants, and undoubtedly saves time of both which also opens a new horizon for the judiciary to become people friendly. Therefore, legal analytics tools become popular all over the world although it is mostly unknown in our judicial system due to massive lack of digitalization.

Law chambers deploy legal analytics tools in their daily functions such as legislation and case law analysis, case management, automated contract review, pleadings and contract drafting to add greater value for their clients. Apart from these, there are some access to justice tools which even support non-lawyers in engaging with legal processes. Modern computational technologies have potentials to automate the delivery of various legal services to wide spectrum of litigants. For basic legal needs, access to legal services might come in the form of smartphones or other devices that can provide consumers with a catalogue of their legal rights and obligations, as well as providing understandings and possible solutions to common daily life law related complex problems.

The installation of legal analytics tools in the legal industry presents several significant challenges concerning legal profession. Among them, whether AI run robot is going to replace human judges and lawyers in court in coming days is the most prominent. It also changes the traditional thoughts, work process and enforcement of existing law and regulation.

Nonetheless, AI possesses inherent threats and potential risks in the legal industry too. There is real danger of providing legal advice, support and guidance by a non-lawyer taking aid from legal analytics tools which may affect the interest and rights of the client. Lawyering is a highly technical, sophisticate and regulated profession by professional body which needs to maintain certain standard and expertise while dealing with a lawsuit in the court whereas the standard of service will certainly not be maintained by non-lawyers that will ultimately damage the rights of litigants. Lawyers have a duty to provide competent representation and clear information to their client which cannot be monitored in this process. Profiling of judges by finding out the trends of judgment is another substantial concern of critics which may create pressure upon the judges to perform their duties fearlessly, thus it may convey negativity about judges to the community.

Apart from the above, incorporating legal analytics technologies into legal profession creates issue relating to ethics and professional integrity, discrimination, bias, data protection, privacy etc. AI tools are usually trained by human with precedents. Consequently, AI is merely trained to think and act in accordance with the previous decisions that may have bias and discriminatory elements in it, which has potential risk of violating principles of fairness and equal protection under the law. Additionally, AI often requires access to sensitive legal data and documents. Ensuring proper data protection and preventing unauthorized access is crucial to maintaining client confidentiality and complying with privacy regulations.

The complexity of cases, and of human nature, causes people to rely on lawyers and judges to include more of an emotional, psychological level of demand. Further, AI does not yet make good use of creative thinking, which is one of the major criteria to be a good legal professional.

Weighing the mentioned points, it is clear that new computational technologies could be beneficial for the industry if we can ensure meticulous innovation and use of it in the judiciary. The notion of rule of law, respect for human rights, non-discrimination, democratic values along with robust ethical guideline and responsible use of these tools must be included in driving force from problem definition, design, data collection, and data cleaning, to training, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining products, platforms, and systems.

There is great impact in what legal analytics tools can and will do to support legal professionals in their work but beside the AI hype, there is yet a necessity to entirely alert why and how to use this technology and what are the integral dangers.

Published in the Law & Our Rights page of The Daily Star on 1 March 2024 at page 10.

Punish the Perpetrator for Publishing Personal Photo

Nicole Fox Fenlon, a 21 years old Irish lady affectionately known as Coco to her friends and family died in January 2018 by suicide after suffering years of awful physical and online abuse. Jackie Fox, her mother exposed that the physical and online bullying had continued even after Nicole had tried to take her own life in 2016. The abusers made fake Facebook pages, they pressed her all the time through Snapchat, WhatsApp and Messenger to go and hang herself. They even sent her videos of a noose, showing how to hang herself. The abusers used online platforms because they knew they would get away with it that way as there was no law to prevent and penalise online harassment then. As a result, Jackie converted her unbearable grief into changing the laws around online harm and fighting tirelessly to legislate a stringent legislation to criminalise persistent online abuse that could better protect others from online bullying, abuse, digital harassment, cyberstalking and revenge porn.

Subsequently, the Irish policy makers have enacted a new law namely the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act in 2020, otherwise known as Coco’s law to address a number of emerging online offences including: taking and distributing intimate images online without consent; online or digital harassment; a specific offence of stalking; an expanded offence of sending, threatening or indecent messages; and revenge pornography after years of campaign and struggle of Jackie Fox. Albeit, this new legislation was not there to safeguard Nicole Coco but it will shield others’ lives and families from having to suffer like her.

However, digital harassment like sharing or threatening to share intimate image online without consent is a global concern nowadays particularly after the evolution and popularisation of social and communication media. Almost every day male, female, transgender and children become victim of these crimes in anywhere of the world. There are many offences involved with these incidents i.e blackmailing, sextortion/extortion, fraud etc. The scenario of Bangladesh is not different as the scope and legal framework to deal with digital harassment is still narrow here.

‘I possess your intimate photos/videos and I am going to spread them if you don’t …’ is a common threat for both male and female in Bangladesh. Although incidents of online sexual harassment and/or cyber bullying are hardly reported by victims as it barely brings justice and social stigma along with the fear of victim blaming and character assassination. Limited implementation of existing laws to stop the offenders from engaging in such horrendous activities is another reason to not bring the issue into discussion.

However, there are a number of laws at present in Bangladesh i.e the Nari O Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000 (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act); the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act, 2006; the Pornography Control Act, 2012 and the Digital Security Act (DSA), 2018 to deal with online harassment to some extent. Nonetheless, none of the above law is comprehensive to adequately address digital sexual harassment in social media and other online platforms. Like section 9A of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000 states whoever wilfully snatch the reputation or character of a woman without her consent and by this directly induce the woman to commit suicide shall commit an offence of inducing suicide and he shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to ten years and also liable with fine. The law does not specifically mention about digital harassment or online sexual violence like: sexting, online stalking, revenge porn or spreading intimate image online. It is also essential to train the staff working for the National Helpline for Violence Against Women and Children (109) to handle digital sexual crimes sensibly.  

Section 57 of the controversial ICT Act provides that anyone can be punished for any false and obscene posts online for a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment and maximum fine of taka 1 crore although it does not define the term ‘obscene’. The Pornography Control Act, 2012 makes it a crime if anybody entices any woman, man or child to participate in producing pornography and captures still images or videography of that with or without his knowledge under section 8(1). Furthermore, the Act has provision to penalize a person who harms the social or personal dignity of another person through pornography, or extorts money or any other benefit through fear, or mentally tortures through pornography recorded knowingly or unknowingly of that person (S. 8(2)). Distribution of pornography through internet, website, mobile phone or any other electronic device is also prohibited under section 8(3) the mentioned Act. Nevertheless, the Act focused only on pornography, not even revenge porn or other aspects of online sexual harassment. Again section 29(1) of the debated DSA merely penalizes dissemination of defamatory contents on online platforms whereas there is no mention about sharing or threat to sharing intimate photos or videos.

However, Coco’s law aims to prosecute the evolving forms of digital harassment by amending the previous concepts and provides anonymity to the victims of those crimes. Consequently, sharing or threatening to share intimate image online without consent and with or without intent to cause harm to the victim is a now a crime in Ireland. Intimate image denotes to a person’s underwear covered or not intimate part of body like genitals, buttocks, anal region and breasts, or a person who is nude or someone engaged in sexual activity. It is irrelevant whether the person in the image willingly took it and sent it to someone they trusted, if it is then shared with others without consent. It also includes a picture taken or content recorded without the knowledge of the person in the image. The punishment for this offence is up to seven years in prison and an unlimited fine. The law also recognizes it a crime which is often referred to as a ‘deep fake’ i.e send an intimate image purporting or claiming to be of another person even if the image is not actually of them.

The recording, distribution or publication of intimate image is also a punishable crime under the law, even if the person who records, distributes or publishes the image without consent, does not need to have intended to cause harm. It will be sufficient that the taking, recording or distribution of the intimate image seriously affected the other person’s peace and privacy or caused them harm, alarm or distress.

Now, the question is how long shall we wait for a Coco’s law in Bangladesh? Aren’t we hearing the misogyny of hundreds of thousands of victims of online sexual abuse and/or exposed intimate photo/video victims or shall we waiting for another Nicole Coco to dedicate her life to catch the attention of the legislators? In light of the sheer volume of digital sexual harassment in virtual world, a proper legislative mechanism should be considered to address the issue urgently.

It is true that there is no shame in someone's body rather it is reprehensible to threaten people by demonising their personal lives. However, this is high time to build safer digital Bangladesh by firstly recognizing these common offences happened on online platforms regularly and enact a new legislation like Coco’s law containing provisions penalizing all new forms of digital sexual harassment and a regulatory framework for prevention of these crimes from being circulated on social and communication media platforms. Moreover, the law has to create an easy and accessible complaint mechanism for all the victims of non-consensual distribution of private and/or intimate images maintaining anonymity. Additionally, the law should insert provision for conducting the proceedings in camera and ensuring that the victims do not have to undergo additional harassment from state institutions. Otherwise, the offenders will get immunity in absence of a concrete law and turn the virtual world of digital Bangladesh into a heaven for digital sexual harassment.

Published in the Desh Rupantor as Sub Editorial on 18 March 2023 on Page 4.

Published in the Dainik Bangla as Sub Editorial on 21 March 2023 on Page 8.

Published in the Progress Magazine as an Article in the November 2023 Issue. 

Legal Protection is Needed for Good Samaritans in Bangladesh

The initial hour following a road crash with casualties is crucial for saving lives and minimising the risk of disabilities. This period is commonly referred to as the "golden hour" or "golden time" in road traffic incidents. 

Prompt access to emergency medical services during this critical hour can significantly enhance the chances of survival for the victims. Unfortunately, Bangladesh currently lacks sufficient post-road crash care facilities, particularly in rural and remote areas. 

This scarcity of emergency medical services contributes to a rise in the number of fatalities and injuries on the roads. Consequently, victims and their families often face disabilities and financial burdens due to the absence of adequate post-crash care.

Often, it is the nearby residents or passers-by who become the first responders at the scene of a crash. These individuals voluntarily leap into action, doing their best to rescue the passengers from danger, even in the absence of technical knowledge or professional assistance.

They then promptly transport the victims to the nearest government or private hospital. Therefore, passers-by play a crucial role in preventing fatalities and severe injuries in the aftermath of an accident.

Unfortunately, in recent times, it has become increasingly common to witness injured individuals lying on the road while passers-by choose to record the incident with their phones and walk away without offering any assistance to the victims. 

The primary reason behind the public's hesitation to intervene immediately is the fear of getting entangled in police questioning, criminal cases, additional hassle, and complex court procedures. 

Furthermore, bystanders often face harassment from private hospitals, as these institutions tend to deny admission to patients without immediate payment or without a connection to the person accompanying the victim to the hospital.

Additionally, those who volunteer to help in rescuing victims face the risk of being sued with civil or criminal charges if any harm is inadvertently caused to the victim during the rescue attempt. 

This fear of legal repercussions, coupled with potential police involvement, further discourages the public from offering aid to road crash victims, despite their desperate need for assistance and potentially life-saving measures.

That is why a legal framework is crucial to safeguard Good Samaritans from being harmed and to encourage their assistance to victims without fear of negative consequences. 

A Good Samaritan refers to an individual who willingly steps forward in good faith to provide immediate assistance or emergency care to a person injured in an accident, crash, or medical emergency, without expecting payment, reward, or assuming any duty of care or special relationship. 

Unfortunately, there is currently no law in place to protect Good Samaritans and enable them to aid road crash victims in Bangladesh. 

While the Penal Code of 1860 offers indemnity to volunteers who act in good faith without consent for the benefit of a person under Section 92, this provision only provides protection against criminal liability and does not exempt them from civil and other responsibilities. 

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a separate law or, at the very least, a separate provision within the Road Transport Act of 2018 to shield Good Samaritans from both civil and criminal liabilities and to impose an obligation on hospitals and clinics to provide emergency healthcare services to the victims.

Globally, Good Samaritan laws are in place to safeguard volunteers who provide reasonable assistance to individuals who are injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated in road, rail or air crashes. 

These laws have the purpose of encouraging bystanders to help those in need and ensuring that they are protected from harassment by the police, hospitals or any other parties. The laws ensure that selfless rescuers are not held liable for any unintentional acts of negligence, omissions, harm or wrongful death that may occur as a result of their genuine efforts.

An ideal Good Samaritan law includes provisions that prevent the rescuer from being compelled to file a police case at the police station or bear the costs of medical services provided by the hospital. 

Furthermore, the law ensures that the Good Samaritan cannot be forced to remain at the hospital or police station. It guarantees that the individual is not obligated to provide personal information, such as their name, address, phone number, or the identity of the victim, even for a medico-legal form. 

The Good Samaritan is also not required to provide any other evidence to the police. If the individual voluntarily chooses to participate in the investigation process, their statement will be recorded in a single hearing, and they will not be repeatedly summoned by the police. 

Additionally, there should be a provision for the Good Samaritan to lodge complaints against any misconduct by the police or hospital to the relevant authority.

The High Court Division (HCD) has approved the Emergency Medical Services for Road Accident Victims and Protection of Good Samaritans Guidelines, 2018 in the case of Syed Saifuddin Kamal & anr. Vs. Bangladesh & ors., 13 SCOB [2020] HCD. 

The court has declared that these guidelines will be considered enforceable until the legislature enacts the necessary law in this regard. This aligns with the stance taken by the Indian Supreme Court in the case of Save Life Foundation and anr. Vs. Union of India and anr. in 2016.

According to the HCD verdict, a Good Samaritan is defined as any bystander and/or passer-by who provides assistance to accident victims. These individuals can play a crucial role in saving lives by either immediately transporting the victims to the hospital or providing immediate lifesaving first aid. 

The guidelines impose the responsibility on law enforcement agencies to provide emergency medical care to victims of road, rail or air accidents. It states that if a person injured in a road crash was also involved in the incident, they cannot be harassed or sent to the police station for legal action before receiving emergency medical care. 

Additionally, it mandates that the relevant officer of the law enforcement agency should arrange suitable vehicles for road crash victims if an ambulance is not available at the scene to provide emergency medical care.

Currently, the legislature has not made any efforts to establish a law concerning emergency medical services for road accident victims and the protection of Good Samaritans. 

Furthermore, the directives provided by the HCD have not been fully implemented. As a result, the number of deaths due to road crashes continues to rise in the country. It is essential for policymakers to prioritise the preservation of lives in this nation. 

Therefore, there is an urgent need to comply with the judgment of the HCD and enact a legal framework that ensures the protection of Good Samaritans. This will help instill confidence among the public and encourage them to fearlessly assist victims of road, rail, and air crashes.

Published as Sub-editorial on the Daily Sangbad on 30 April 2023

Published as Sub-editorial on Dainik Bangla on 3 May 2023

Published as Op-ed (Thought) on The Business Standard on 18 May 2023 at page 15

The Proposed Motorcycle Movement Policy 2023 of Bangladesh is Commendable; But…

Journey by motorcycle has increased tremendously since the inauguration of ride-sharing services in Bangladesh. Motorcycle is being hailed as a popular means of transportation within short time as it takes less time and cost to reach a destination, particularly against the backdrop of Dhaka's unbearable traffic gridlock. Another big reason for blooming motorbikes on the road is the government's encouragement to build motorcycle factories in the country. However, with the increase of motorcycles, the number of road crashes has also upsurged. The number of casualties in motorcycle crashes has increased in recent times due to high speed, uncontrolled movement, reluctance to use standard helmets and other safety gears, excess passenger and cargo transportation on motorcycle, lack of adequate training, improper law enforcement etc. In this situation, it is known from the media sources that the government is going to formulate a policy called the Motorcycle Movement Policy 2023 to regulate motorcycle movement in the country. The Road Transport and Highways Division, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Police and Roads and Highways Department are involved in the policy making process. Despite the concern how effectively it will be implemented, the newly drafted policy was a long felt one to address the reckless motorcycle movement.

There has been a negative reaction among the motorcyclists, riders, pillions, manufacturers, traders and users about the proposed restrictions recommended in the draft policy. Riders and users were aggrieved because of the ban on the Padma bridge and highways during festive times, harassment of motorcyclists by the police in the name of random stopping and checking on the roads and for various other reasons. At this moment, the proposed policy has added fuel to that old fire. In addition, due to the vagueness on some points, exclusion of bikers and manufacturers from the policy making processes, non-clarification of the concerns raised by the riders etc. have influenced them to protest against the draft policy. However, the object to formulate the policy is novel as it aims to reduce road crashes by ensuring safety for the bikers, pillions and users. Now the government needs to connect the stakeholders with the objectives of the recommended policy and clarify the ambiguities questioned by them.

The most controversial matter in the policy is the 30 kmph maximum speed limit for motorcycles in the city. Young motorcyclists opined that the 30 kmph speed limit inside city will increase the chances of road crash as the speed limit is not applicable to other motor vehicles like car, bus, truck etc. and just slowing down the motorcycle speed will create scope to hit motorbikes from behind by other vehicles.

This is the major flaw of the policy as it does not propose same maximum speed limit for all other motor vehicles in city. In order to ensure road safety in almost all countries of the modern world, the maximum speed limit for all classes of motor vehicles in cities is 30 kmph. This speed limit is even lower in schools, hospitals, densely populated areas etc. A question may come where the average speed of Dhaka city is decreasing day by day for traffic congestion; why would the maximum speed limit be fixed at 30 kmph? Because in urban areas there are more pedestrians on the roads while pedestrians walk and cross the road randomly. Pedestrian deaths are increasing due to speeding. Research shows that a pedestrian hits by an automobile traveling at 30 kmph has 80 percent chance of surviving. Furthermore, due to the growth of using bicycles, pedal-powered e-cycles, low-speed mobility scooters for differently able people; the speed limit for all motor vehicles in cities worldwide is 30 kmph. Controlling the speed of motorcycles alone without controlling the speed of other vehicles will not serve the purpose rather crate anarchy on roads. Therefore, the government should determine the maximum speed limit in urban areas for all classes of vehicles immediately.

The draft policy has banned the movement of motorbikes on highways with any pillion. This is not consistent with the much-discussed Road Transport Act (RTA) of 2018. Section 49(1)(f) of the Act stipulates that a motorcyclist shall not carry more than one pillion. Therefore, there is no scope to prohibit the carrying of a pillion under the proposed policy whereas the main law allows the same. There is no doubt that the biker and the pillion will suffer severe causalities if any collision happened on the highway. The committee might have thought the fatality in that case, but there is no opportunity to import a new provision in the policy which is contrary with the original law. Thus, amendment of the RTA is necessary to include restriction for carrying pillion on highways.

However, in addition to standard helmet, the draft policy obligates the bikers to mandatorily wear other safety gears like chest guard, knee guard, elbow guard, ankle-covering shoes or sneakers, full-finger gloves, full pants and full shirt, and anti-lock braking system on the motorcycle for highway movement. This provision will play significant role in reducing the loss of life in road crash.

The recommended policy also bans pregnant women, elderly people and children below 12 years of age from riding motorcycles on any road, which is undoubtedly a good thought. However, if the age is not defined for elderly person, many may face harassment on roads. Moreover, in case of pregnant women, a time limit may be fixed that a pregnant woman cannot be a motorcycle rider after certain month of pregnancy. Children are the most vulnerable as riders on a motorcycle ride. In various countries, riding a motorcycle is prohibited before the child reaches a height where he can safely sit on the footrest of the motorcycle, and it is from that spirit that our draft policy has set a minimum age limit to ensure the safety of the child. However, since there are no restrictions on these matters in the RTA; provision can be added to allow the government to impose restrictions on riding motorcycles by amending the RTA. Otherwise, the good intentions of the policy makers may be challenged for contradicting the original law.

Recently, there has been an increase in the trend of long-distance journeys by motorbikes, especially during the festive seasons, and to curb this trend, the draft has recommended a 10-day ban on motorcycling on highways before and after festival periods like Eid, Puja etc. Mainly due to scarcity of bus/train tickets, exorbitant price hikes, indiscipline on the highways etc. bikers are influenced to travel long distances on motorcycles. Nonetheless, it remains questionable about the reasonableness of 20-day suspension during festival. Long journeys during festival may be considered by ensuring adequate safety measures, imposing strict speed limits and proper enforcement of laws. Otherwise, a large section of citizens who themselves are paying taxes to the government for using roads will be deprived of enjoying their rights.

The recommendation to check driving license before selling motorcycle and not handing over the motorcycle before registration is commendable. It will control unregistered and unlicensed motorcycle driving. But to make the initiative a success, license verification by the vendor needs to be facilitated. Manufacturers, sellers or distributors should ensure registration and licensing as part of their social responsibility to cooperate with the government. Additionally, the proposal to give two standard helmets to the buyer is also praiseworthy. Many countries around the world have found success following this model. In recent times the use of substandard helmets has increased vastly, resulting severe fatality in road crash which can be prevented by this initiative.

Scooty type motorcycles are relatively safer than sporty motorcycles. Because its speed is low, control is easy, in case of an accident, biker can lower legs from both sides and come to a stable state quickly, etc. Hence the draft policy calls for tax exemptions to popularize scooters and tax hikes on relatively unsafe sporty motorcycles; which is admirable. In addition, some responsibilities of manufacturers, assemblers, distributors and related persons such as training on riding and first aid before selling motorcycles, providing manuals with motorcycles, distribution of pamphlets (handbills, leaflets, posters and stickers) relating to road safety etc. has been incorporated in the policy to reduce motorbike crash.

According to Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association, 2,533 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in 2022, which is more than two and a half times than in 2018. Bangladesh tops in the world in motorcycle crash deaths. In 2021 with the support of the World Bank, in a study on road safety on 16 countries (including Bangladesh) where motorcycles travel more, the Accident Research Institute of BUET found that 28.4 people die in accidents against every 10,000 motorcycles in the country every year. About 40 percent of them are 24 to 30 years old. This death rate in motorcycle crash is the highest in the world.

Three objectives have been mentioned in the draft Motorcycle Movement Policy: 1. reducing road crash by regulating motorcycle movement; 2. encouraging the safe use of motorcycles and the relatively low-risk use of motorcycles and 3. raising awareness among motorcyclists. Therefore, it can be said that the proposed policy can play a leading role in reducing road crash, dropping risk and increasing awareness. However, before finalizing the policy, it is necessary to increase its acceptability based on the opinions of all stakeholders and bring consistency with the original law or else an auspicious venture will be nipped in the bud.

Published as Sub-editorial on Dainik Bangla on 3 March 2023 at page 8.

Published as Lead Op-ed on the Daily Observer on 5 March 2023 at page 5.

Published as Lead Op-ed on the Daily Standard on 13 March 2023 at page 15.

Energy justice to combat power crisis in Bangladesh

ENERGY justice denotes the concepts of equity, affordability, accessibility and participation in the energy system and energy transition regardless of race, nationality, income or geographic location. Energy justice aims to make energy accessible, affordable, clean and democratically managed for all communities and to protect them from the disproportionate share of costs or negative impacts relating to building, operating and maintaining electric power generation, transmission, distribution systems and to ensure equitable access to benefits from each system. Energy justice is a community-centric approach that focuses on the ways communities should have a say in shaping their energy futures through policy involvement. Hence, energy justice is significant for a country like Bangladesh to ensure access to affordable, safe and sustainable energy for all.

However, Bangladesh is becoming an extremely electricity-hungry country nowadays while the whole planet has witnessed a global crisis in the energy sector in recent times due to the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, climate change, brewing economic recession, Russia-Ukraine war etc. The global crisis has also exposed energy supply chain shortfalls. Liquefied natural gas has become eight times costlier and crude oil about five times, compared with April 2020. Just a few months back, it was thought that Bangladesh had left its power outage history far behind as it fulfilled almost 100% of power demand following rapid progress in this sector by focusing on capacity building as well as increasing transmission and coverage in the last one decade. We have overcapacity to produce enough electricity but do not get enough resources at an affordable cost now because of a lack of prioritising sustainable sources to produce electricity continuously. Consequently, the previously short outages, usually caused by a brief grid malfunction or a technological fault, have now transformed into the signs of an energy crisis.

Nonetheless, ensuring affordable, uninterruptable, and quality energy for all with limited resources and infrastructure is a great challenge for Bangladesh. Additionally, several factors, including lack of time-befitting decisions, sustainable master plan and policy, administrative incapacity, system failure, resource constraints, growing preference, predatory expansion, corruption and limited energy storage systems, have accelerated the present power outage in Bangladesh.

Electricity generation in Bangladesh is mainly dependent on gas and coal, whereas the current gas reserves of Bangladesh are not sufficient for industrialisation and power generation. As a result, it has become heavily reliant on the importation of coal, oil and gas from multiple overseas sources. However, the international reserve of fossil fuels is not endless and there are many power games and politics involved in the price and supply of them. The current massive price hike of traditional fossil fuels, ie oil, gas and coal in the international market, made the present power crisis inevitable in Bangladesh. A lack of exploration of alternative sources and initiative to spread and popularise renewable energy has created threats to supply and national security as well.

The government prepared a periodic master plan for electricity generation, namely the Power System Master Plan in 2016, which also focused on fossils instead of renewables and called for 35 per cent gas and 35 per cent coal-based electricity generation. As a result, 70 percent of projected energy demand in 2026 would have to be met through imports, despite domestic gas’s declining contribution to the energy mix. Therefore, the country’s energy security will face a threat in the coming days, which is also reflected by the current crisis. Conversely, renewable energy is being emphasised to reduce the dependence on natural energy and the effect of greenhouse gases globally.

Regrettably, the Power Development Board has recently drafted an Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan without following the energy justice approach. It prioritises natural energy imports for the next five years, despite forecasts of the international energy market remaining volatile over that time. The draft master plan disregards the potential of expanding renewable energy, the need to explore internal gas resources and the need to phase out costly oil-fired power plants. It also lacks a roadmap to reduce power sector system losses.

The authorities should concentrate on increasing investment in renewable energy gradually to overcome the existing power crisis and reduce energy importation. Bangladesh holds ample exploitable renewable sources of energy that could be used to address and ease the country’s current power issue. Solar power plants, winds, tides, bio, hydrological, solar thermal, ocean waves and the Bay of Bengal should be utilised on a large scale at this moment to handle the situation.

Experts roughly estimate Bangladesh’s wind and solar power potentials to be 60,000 MW and 35,000 MW, respectively. A wind or solar power project is implementable within nine months to a year. Also, our wind potential is not confined to Cox’s Bazar and other coastal areas only. We have a good supply of wind power after a certain altitude in our country. Arguably, it is possible to generate 33,000 MW at an 80-metre altitude from wind power, whereas the generation could be doubled by raising the height to 120 metres. Moreover, an agro-based country like Bangladesh may lean on biomass energy more, using only agricultural crop residues, animal manure, and municipal solid waste. Democratic management of energy, well-trained human resources, and modern technology can quicken this process.

The state should now take some immediate actions to combat the power crisis, including adaptation of the energy justice approach in the energy system, putting emphasis on purchasing local gas at a low cost instead of importing it at a high rate and trying to reserve it, as well as concentrating on strengthening state-owned BAPEX rather than giving priority to foreign companies. Because we wouldn’t be able to afford the same previous mistakes of the policymakers in the energy sector anymore.

Nevertheless, being a developing country, maintaining a balance among affordability, environmental sustainability, and energy security is not easy for Bangladesh. Hence, it is high time the authorities established energy justice to frame a long-term sustainable plan in order to prevent another energy crisis of this kind in the future.

Published on the New Age as lead Sub-editorial on 15 October 2022 at page 8.

Published on the Daily Sun as Op-ed on 19 October 2022 at page 6.

Published on the Asian Age as lead Sub-editorial on 20 October 2022 at page 6.

Published on the Daily Observer as Op-ed on 21 October 2022 at page 5.

Published on the daily Ittefaq (Bangla) as Sub-editorial on 21 October 2022 at page 8.

Published on the daily Sangbad (Bangla) as Sub-editorial on 21 October 2022 at page 6.

Published on the Business Standard as Op-ed on 24 October 2022 at page 15.

Published on the Daily Jaugantor as Sub-editorial on 30 October 2022 at page 4.

Published on the Energy & Power Magazine as an Article on 3 November 2022.

Online Content Regulation v Freedom of Expression

The livestreaming of the Christchurch terrorist attack in New Zeeland in 2019 has demonstrated potential threat to spread illegal and harmful contents on social media by the terrorists to amplify their mal intention to the general users of internet. As a result, online content regulation gets high political momentum around the world after the live video broadcasting of massacre of 51 Muslim worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque by terrorist Brenton Tarrant. Earlier, the global social media companies govern contents voluntarily through their own policy and by mostly depending on AI technology and users’ report to remove any illegal or harmful content. However, this incident has shifted the burden from voluntary action to mandatory legislative measure.

More than 40 new social media content regulation laws have been adopted worldwide in the last couple of years while another 30 are under active consideration. These laws aim to prevent social media platforms being weaponised for the purpose of flourishing extremism and propaganda by forcing online providers to control content on their platforms more cautiously. These legislations attempt to moderate both illegal and harmful but not directly illegal contents on online surface. Illegal content would encompass a large variety of items which directly contravene the legislation, such as hate speech, incitement to violence, child abuse, revenge porn etc. Instead, harmful content, refers to information that does not strictly fall under legal prohibitions but that might nevertheless have harmful effects like portraying self-harm, suicidal attempt content, cyberbullying, mis-or disinformation etc.

Soon after the Christchurch incident, the parliament of the commonwealth of Australia had enacted the Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act in March 2019. This new law created fresh offences and liability for the providers of online contents and hosting services to make their platforms safe and responsible. The law compels tech companies to expeditiously remove illegal and harmful contents and failure to get rid of the content in a stipulated time could bring imprisonment and fines of up to 10% of their annual profit. Again in 2021, Australia has enacted unique Online Safety Act which includes world-first Adult Cyber Abuse prevention mechanism.

Likewise, Germany, France, European Union, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, India have either already passed or under process to formulate similar legal framework to govern social media contents. However, there is an interesting discourse around the globe whether judiciary or private tech company will determine the legality of content as the recent trend of worldwide online safety laws assign obligation to assess the legality of the content on private tech companies. Nonetheless, these laws provide forum for setting up a complaint handling system to make the tech giants accountable and ask them to produce transparent annual report on their actions against illegal and harmful contents.

However, there is a common allegation of restricting freedom of expression and imposition of censorship against these laws as there is genuine fear that many hosting providers and platforms will remove contents to avoid liability without assessing the merit of the content judiciously. Additionally, outsourcing of private tech companies or asking a government body instead of employing independent judiciary to evaluate the legally creates apprehension of restricting dissenting voice on social media.

However, Bangladesh has faced a lot of consequence arising out of illegal and harmful contents on social media ranging from livestreaming of suicide, disclosure of revenge porn, cyberbullying to harassment, hate speech, abuse, communal unrest etc. At this moment, there is no specific law governing illegal and harmful social media contents, although there are some controversial laws like the Digital Security Act, The ICT Act mainly to prevent cybercrime but not exhaustive to handle illegal and harmful contents.

Now, Bangladesh mainly follows command and control approach to regulate toxic contents on social media where both the government and the court orders telecommunication regulatory authority and digital security agency to scrap any controversial content or block access to a particular link from Bangladesh. Hence, there is actual risk of limiting the freedom of expression, plurality of opinion and restricting dissenting voices in absence of a clear-cut standard to determine illegal and harmful contents.

Nevertheless, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) released a draft regulation on digital, social media and OTT platforms in 2021 to comply a court order to formulate policy for OTT platforms only that has great similarity with the much criticised the Indian Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Immediately after publishing the draft regulation, it received massive criticism from rights group and civil society for limiting freedom of expression. There are so many incomplete and vague terms which have no concrete definition i.e. sovereignty, integrity or security of the country, decency or morality, friendly relations with foreign countries, or defamation (clause 6.01 (d)). Lack of proper definition and not knowing the exact elements to constitute the crime will create a fearful environment to express opinion as there are several allegations of irrational use of these grounds to jail people earlier.

Again, clause 7.03 of the draft obliges intermediaries like messaging service providers to unlock privacy of correspondence of the users to trace the first originator of a message and reveal his/her identity upon receipt an order from court or BTRC which is a clear violation of article 43 of the constitution. Moreover, authorizing BTRC through this draft regulation raises a genuine apprehension of possible arbitrary use of this power. There are several other scopes in part two and three of the mentioned regulation that can violate citizens’ right to freedom of expression and privacy guaranteed under the constitution. Hence, the draft regulation should be prepared newly respecting the international human rights standards, established best practices and aiming to create conducive, safe online environment without contravening rights of anyone.

Published on the New Age as Sub-Editorial on 10 September 2022 at page 8.

Published on the Daily Sangbad as Sub-Editorial on 15 September 2022 at page 6.

Published on Sarabangla as Opinion on 1 October 2022

Published on Drik News as Opinion on 23 October 2022.