| Peer-Reviewed

The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis

Received: 26 August 2017    Accepted: 18 September 2017    Published: 28 September 2017
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Restorative justice is an innovative movement in the field of victimology and criminology. The formal judicial system of Bangladesh is very expensive and follows a lengthy procedure for the lack of financial resources and outdated legislation pose. Majority of middle class people therefore prefer or rather have no choice but to use the traditional justice mechanisms like restorative justice. This study was an effort to find out how restorative justice could be an effective method for dispute resolution to reduce the backlog and future case loads in Bangladesh. Besides, the core challenges of successful Restorative Justice and some prevention policies to recover drawbacks of the restorative justice in Bangladesh were also studied. As the nature of the research is qualitative in nature, data and information had collected from secondary sources. This study found that, the most important challenge of restorative justice in Bangladesh is the huge backlog of cases, relative ignorance and lack of confidence and legal awareness of the service seekers and providers, lack of monitoring and supervision of the court activities, negative attitudes and perceptions towards legal institutes and absence of legal aid and support. Though the Village Courts have limitations and drawbacks but still it is playing an important role in the settlements disputes and maintaining social peace and tranquility in the rural area. This study argues for the necessary amendments of the village court act, proper monitoring and supervision of the government, resources and preparedness as well as the responsiveness of all stakeholders that can ensure effective restorative justice in Bangladesh.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13
Page(s) 176-183
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Restorative Justice, Backlog Cases, Limited Jurisdiction, Village Court

References
[1] Ameen, N. (2005), Dispensing Justice to the Poor: The Village Court, Arbitration Council vis-à-vis NGO Mediation, The Dhaka University Studies (Journal of the Faculty of Law), Part – F, 16 (2).
[2] Braswell. M. (2014), Restorative Justice and Peacemaking, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology.
[3] Bazemore, G and Umbreit, M S (1995), Rethinking the Sanctioning Function in Juvenile Court: Retributive or Restorative Responses to Youth Crime, Crime & Delinquency, 41 (3).
[4] Crisostomo, R. (2008), The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practices: How to Restore Justice for At-Risk Youth, California.
[5] Hassan, M. (2006), Access to Formal and Informal Justice System and Legal Empowerment Strategies in Bangladesh, background paper for the Bangladesh Gender Assessment, World Bank, Dhaka.
[6] Hossain, M. B. (2012), Dispensing Justice Locally: A Study of Two Village Courts in Bangladesh, North South University.
[7] Khan, B. U. and Rahman, M. M. (2009), Local Government Level Restorative Adjudication: An Alternative Model of Justice for Children in Bangladesh, Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance Issue 4.
[8] Kamruzzaman M. (2015), Child Victimization at Working Places in Bangladesh. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 4(6): 146-159.
[9] Lambson, H. S. (2015), Evaluating a Native American Restorative Justice Practice in a State Criminal Court Setting, Brooklyn.
[10] Kamruzzaman M. (2017), Prisoners’ Posture on Prison: A Criminological Study. American Journal of Information Science and Computer Engineering, 3(1): 7-13.
[11] Meadows, etal. (2012), Evaluation of the South Yorkshire Restorative Justice Programme Morris, A. and Maxwell, G. (2004), Reforming criminal justice: the potential of restorative justice, Spiger publication.
[12] Mc Cold, P. (2001), Primary Restorative Justice Practices, Hart Publishing, Oxford. McLaughlin, E et al (eds.) (2003), Restorative Justice: Critical Issues, Sage Publications Ltd, London.
[13] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2016), Prevalence of Acid Crime Victimization in South Asia: A Review. Journal of Biological and Environmental Engineering, 1(2): 17-22.
[14] Mentle, et al. (2005), Restorative Justice and Three Individual Theories of Crime, Internet Journal of Criminology.
[15] Ness, V. and Strong. (2015), Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice, 5th edition, London and New York: Rutledge.
[16] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2016), Factors Associated with the Suicidal Tsunami as a Mental Illness: Findings from an Epidemiological Study. American Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 1(1): 1-5.
[17] Rahman, M M. (1985), A Study of Two Village Courts, The Journal of Local Government, 14(2).
[18] Saadi, A etal. (2014), Effectiveness of Village Court in Bangladesh: A Study in Tangail District, Bangla vision, 13(1).
[19] Kamruzzaman M et al. (2016), Plight of Youth Perception on Cyber Crime in South Asia. American Journal of Information Science and Computer Engineering, 2(4): 22-28.
[20] Sarker, N. I. (2013), An Evaluation of Village Court: A Study on Selected Village Courts Bangladesh, BRAC University.
[21] Shekhar, B (2002), Restorative Justice – An Alternative to Existing Retributive Justice System, Social Defence, 53(152).
[22] Kamruzzaman M. (2015) Dowry related Violence against Rural Women in Bangladesh. American Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Science, 1(4): 112-116.
[23] Siddiqui, K (ed.) (1995), Local Government in South Asia- A Comparative Study, University Press Limited, Dhaka.
[24] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2016), Basic Rights on the Wane, Human Rights on Brown Study: A Case Study on Thrown Away Children in Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2(4): 29-35.
[25] Kamruzzaman M. (2016), Interreligious Marriage in Bangladesh: From Human Rights Perspective. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 1(2): 44-51.
[26] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2015), Child Criminalization at Slum Areas in Dhaka City. American Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Science, 1(4): 107-111.
[27] Kamruzzaman M. (2016), Formalin Crime in Bangladesh: A Case Study. European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, 2(5): 39-44.
[28] The Daily Star, June 8, 2013 Retrieved at April 2, 2017 from www.thedailystar.net/default/files/beta2/uploads/2013/03/18cases04.jpg
[29] Wahhab, M A. (2009), Gram Adalat in Bangladesh: Theory and Practice, in Singh, A and Zahid, N A (eds.), Strengthening Governance through Access to Justice, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
[30] Kamruzzaman M. (2016), A Criminological Study on the Dark Figure of Crime as a Socio-ecological Bulk of Victimization. American Journal of Business, Economics and Management, 4(4): 35-39.
[31] Kamruzzaman M and Das SK. (2016), The Evaluation of Human Rights: An Overview in Historical Perspective. American Journal of Service Science and Management, 3(2): 5-12.
[32] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2016), Prostitution Going Spiral: The Myth of Commercial Child Sex. International Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 1(1): 1-6.
[33] Kamruzzaman M and Hakim M A. (2016), Socio-economic Status of Slum Dwellers: An Empirical Study on the Capital City of Bangladesh, American Journal of Business and Society, 1(2): 13-18.
[34] Kamruzzaman M et al. Patterns of Behavioural Changes Among Adolescent Smokers: An Empirical Study. Frontiers in Biomedical Sciences 2016, 1(1): 1-6.
[35] Das SK, Khan M B U and Kamruzzaman M. (2016), Preventive Detention and Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: The Violation of Human Rights in Bangladesh. American Journal of Business and Society, 1(3): 60-67.
[36] Kamruzzaman M et al. (2016), Extrajudicial Killings: The Violation of Human Rights in Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2(4): 20-28.
[37] www.biac.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/fav.ico
[38] www.bbs.gov.bd
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Md. Abdul Kader Miah, Mahmuda Akter, Md. Kamruzzaman. (2017). The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(5), 176-183. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Md. Abdul Kader Miah; Mahmuda Akter; Md. Kamruzzaman. The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2017, 5(5), 176-183. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Md. Abdul Kader Miah, Mahmuda Akter, Md. Kamruzzaman. The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis. Humanit Soc Sci. 2017;5(5):176-183. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13,
      author = {Md. Abdul Kader Miah and Mahmuda Akter and Md. Kamruzzaman},
      title = {The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {5},
      number = {5},
      pages = {176-183},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20170505.13},
      abstract = {Restorative justice is an innovative movement in the field of victimology and criminology. The formal judicial system of Bangladesh is very expensive and follows a lengthy procedure for the lack of financial resources and outdated legislation pose. Majority of middle class people therefore prefer or rather have no choice but to use the traditional justice mechanisms like restorative justice. This study was an effort to find out how restorative justice could be an effective method for dispute resolution to reduce the backlog and future case loads in Bangladesh. Besides, the core challenges of successful Restorative Justice and some prevention policies to recover drawbacks of the restorative justice in Bangladesh were also studied. As the nature of the research is qualitative in nature, data and information had collected from secondary sources. This study found that, the most important challenge of restorative justice in Bangladesh is the huge backlog of cases, relative ignorance and lack of confidence and legal awareness of the service seekers and providers, lack of monitoring and supervision of the court activities, negative attitudes and perceptions towards legal institutes and absence of legal aid and support. Though the Village Courts have limitations and drawbacks but still it is playing an important role in the settlements disputes and maintaining social peace and tranquility in the rural area. This study argues for the necessary amendments of the village court act, proper monitoring and supervision of the government, resources and preparedness as well as the responsiveness of all stakeholders that can ensure effective restorative justice in Bangladesh.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Bangladesh: An Analysis
    AU  - Md. Abdul Kader Miah
    AU  - Mahmuda Akter
    AU  - Md. Kamruzzaman
    Y1  - 2017/09/28
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13
    T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
    SP  - 176
    EP  - 183
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8184
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20170505.13
    AB  - Restorative justice is an innovative movement in the field of victimology and criminology. The formal judicial system of Bangladesh is very expensive and follows a lengthy procedure for the lack of financial resources and outdated legislation pose. Majority of middle class people therefore prefer or rather have no choice but to use the traditional justice mechanisms like restorative justice. This study was an effort to find out how restorative justice could be an effective method for dispute resolution to reduce the backlog and future case loads in Bangladesh. Besides, the core challenges of successful Restorative Justice and some prevention policies to recover drawbacks of the restorative justice in Bangladesh were also studied. As the nature of the research is qualitative in nature, data and information had collected from secondary sources. This study found that, the most important challenge of restorative justice in Bangladesh is the huge backlog of cases, relative ignorance and lack of confidence and legal awareness of the service seekers and providers, lack of monitoring and supervision of the court activities, negative attitudes and perceptions towards legal institutes and absence of legal aid and support. Though the Village Courts have limitations and drawbacks but still it is playing an important role in the settlements disputes and maintaining social peace and tranquility in the rural area. This study argues for the necessary amendments of the village court act, proper monitoring and supervision of the government, resources and preparedness as well as the responsiveness of all stakeholders that can ensure effective restorative justice in Bangladesh.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Criminology and Police Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh

  • Department of Criminology and Police Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh

  • Department of Victimology and Restorative Justice, Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Sections