The House of the Nation of Bangladesh [Parliament]

Parliament

Bangladesh Parliament

The Parliament of Bangladesh is a unicameral legislature consisting of 300 members. They are directly elected from an equal number of territorial constituencies, which is one from each constituency, on the basis of adult franchise. Earlier there used to be 30 seats reserved for women who were elected by the directly elected Members. This provision in the Constitution for the reservation of seats for women was a transitory one. The 7th Parliament was the last Parliament to have this reservation. With the exception of the first Parliament, which had 15 reserved seats for women, and the fourth Parliament, which had no such reservation, all previous Parliaments (before 8th Parliament) of Bangladesh had included the 30 reserved seats. In the 8th Parliament the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 2004 was passed by the Parliament on May 2004 by which the following provision was inserted in the constitution of Bangladesh:

Art. 65(3) "Until the dissolution of Parliament occurring next after the expiration of the period of ten years beginning from the date of the first meeting of the Parliament next after the Parliament in existence at the time of the commencement of the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act. 2004, there shall be reserved forty five seats exclusively for women members and they will be elected by the aforesaid members in accordance with law on the basis of procedure of proportional representation in the Parliament through single transferable vote:".

This reservation of seats in favor of women did not disqualify them from being candidates in the general election."

The Constitution of Bangladesh in its two texts, Bengali and English, gives the unicameral legislature the name of 'Jatiyo Shangshad' in Bengali and 'House of the Nation' in English. However, the term 'House of the Nation' is rarely used. Rather the one-word nomenclature, 'Parliament', has gained currency, probably because the term 'House of the Nation' is used only once in the Constitution. Many do not know that the Constitution contemplates Parliament to be known in English as 'House of the Nation'.

Elections

All citizens of Bangladesh of and above the age of 18, who have registered themselves as voters, form the electorate. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament on the basis of direct election. All citizens of Bangladesh having attained the age of 25 qualify to be elected to Parliament. Those disqualified include the insane, un-discharged bankrupts, persons who on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude have been sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years unless five years have elapsed since their release, persons owing allegiance to a foreign state, and persons holding an office of profit in the service of the Republic.

The Election Commission allocates election symbols to the political parties. The election symbols of political parties having members in the Eighth Parliament are Bangladesh Nationalist Party uses the symbol of  ?Sheaf of Paddy', Bangladesh Awami League the symbol of ?Boat?, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh the symbol of a pair of Scales, the Jatiyo Party (Ershad) the symbol of ?Plough?, Jatiyo Party (Monju) the symbol of ?Bicycle? and Krishak Sramik Janata League the symbol of Gamchha (towel).  An independent candidate also gets a symbol allocated in his favour by the Election Commission.

A general election for a new Parliament takes place on the same day in all constituencies. Depending on the size of a constituency, and its total number of voters, a number of polling centres are set up with arrangements for voters to exercise their franchise freely, peacefully and in secrecy. Polling officials in each centre in the presence of candidates or their nominees count votes. The result is sent to the Returning Officer in sealed covers together with ballot papers. The Returning Officer, generally the Deputy Commissioner of the district, communicates the result of each constituency to the Election Commission after he has compiled the results in the presence of the candidates or their authorised representatives. Unofficial results start being announced in the state radio and television from the evening of the Election Day. The Election Commission declares the result of the general election formally a few days later through the publication of the names of winning candidates in the official Bangladesh Gazette. Members-elect are administered oath of office by the outgoing Speaker. 

Functions and Procedures of Parliament

Parliament in a parliamentary form of government is a multifunctional organ of the state, but its functions are rarely defined in any Constitution or other document anywhere in the world. One has to read in between the lines of a Constitution to locate the specific functions of Parliament, if there exists a written Constitution.   Parliament of Bangladesh is not an exception to this nearly universal phenomenon. This document restricts itself only to the following three functions of Jatiyo Shangshad: -

1. Enactment of Legislation

2. Consent to taxation and control of public expenditure

3. Ensuring accountability of the Government

The elective functions of Parliament, which include the election of the President, and the exercise of its constituent power for amendment of the Constitution, along with several other functions, have not been discussed.

Enactment of Legislation

Legislation is the basic function of Bangladesh Jatiyo Shangshad. The Constitution of the People?s Republic of Bangladesh has vested the legislative powers of the Republic to Parliament, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. Reference was made earlier to the fact that the President shares this power in two ways; first, he can make laws called Ordinances which have a life limited by the Constitution; and secondly, a Bill passed in Jatiyo Shangshad becomes a statute only after the President has assented, or is deemed to have assented, to it.

Every proposal in Parliament for making a law has to be made in the form of a Bill. If notice for introduction of the Bill has been given by a Minister, the Bill is known as Government Bill. If a Member who is not a Minister introduces it, the Bill is known as Private Member?s Bill. A Bill passes through three distinct stages in Parliament i.e. the introduction, consideration and passing, which conform to the three readings usually known in parliamentary parlance as first reading, second reading and third reading respectively. A new stage in the legislative process called the ?Committee stage? is also now frequently referred to in many Parliaments.

In the case of a Government Bill, a Minister, or in the case of a Private Member?s Bill, a Member may make a motion for leave to introduce a Bill after giving the Secretary to Parliament written notice of his/her intention to do so. A Minister or a Member who has given such notice is known as Member-in-charge in respect of the Bill. The notice has to be accompanied by two copies of the Bill, together with objectives and reasons. If the Bill is one that under the Constitution requires the previous recommendation of the President for its introduction, the notice has to contain a certificate that the Bill has been recommended by the President for introduction. If a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is opposed, the Speaker may without further debate put the question to the vote of the House, after permitting, if he considers appropriate, a brief explanatory statement by the Member opposing the leave for introduction and the Member-in-charge moving for leave. If leave is granted, the Member-in-charge, when called, formally moves a motion forthwith introducing the Bill and, on the motion being made, the Bill stands introduced. This process constitutes the first reading stage of a Bill.

The second reading of a Bill begins after a Bill has been introduced. The Member-in-charge may make anyone of the following motions in regard to his/her Bill, namely:

1. that it be taken into consideration by the House either at once or on some future day to be specified in the motion;
2. that it be referred to a Standing Committee;
3. that it be referred to a Select Committee; or
4. that it be circulated for the purpose of eliciting opinion on the Bill.

Following any of the above mentioned motions, the lengthy, and to some extent complex, stage of the second reading commences, the details of which are defined in the Rules of Procedure. In the first phase of this stage, no amendment to the Bill may be moved. However, any Member may make a counter-motion calling, for example, for the circulation of the Bill to elicit public opinion on it. The principles of the Bill and the general clauses of the Bill are discussed. Details of the Bill are not discussed further than is necessary to explain its principles. This is followed by a clause by clause consideration of the Bill when amendments to the Bill are considered and voted upon.

The third reading stage is short. The Member-in-Charge makes a motion that the Bill be passed. The Speaker will then usually put the motion to vote without allowing any discussion on it.

Consent to Taxation and Control of Public Expenditure

Parliament controls the purse of the nation. This authority is derived from the provisions of the Constitution to the following effect:

• No tax shall be levied or collected except by, or under, the authority of an Act of Parliament.
• No money can be appropriated from the Consolidated Fund except by an Act of Parliament.    

Tax proposals of the Government are submitted to Parliament generally in the form of the Finance Bill, introduced each year by the Finance Minister shortly after his budget speech. Some of the existing Acts/Ordinances that the Finance Bill usually seeks to amend are the following:

a.       Stamp Act, 1899

b.      Wealth Tax Act, 1963

c.       Customs Act, 1969

d.      Income Tax ordinance, 1980

e.       The Excise and Salt Act, 1944

f.        Gift Tax Act, 1990

g.       Value Added Tax Act, 1991

h.       Court Fees Act, 1870

i.          Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931

 Occasionally, a new Bill, in addition to the yearly Finance Bill, may be introduced to give effect to tax proposals not falling within the scope of an existing law.

A statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government for a financial year is laid before Parliament around 3 weeks before the commencement of that year. This statement has been termed as ?annual financial statement? in the Constitution and as ?budget? in the Rules of Procedure. The Finance Minister lays the statement in Parliament after his yearly ?budget speech? in which, among other things, he outlines the taxes proposed in the Finance Bill and also highlights proposed allocations under some, if not all, demands for grants.

Some of the terms used in financial considerations of Parliament, such as ?consolidated fund?, ?charged expenditure?; ?demands for grants? possibly need some clarification. All revenues received, all loans raised and all moneys received in repayment of loans by the Government form part of the Consolidated Fund. All other public moneys received by or on behalf of the Government are credited to the Public Account.

Expenditure from the Consolidated Fund may be classified into two categories: charged expenditure and vote-able expenditure. Remuneration payable to the President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Judges of the Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor General, as well as a few other items of expenditure, have been termed as charged expenditure in the Constitution. Charged expenditure to the Consolidated Fund may be discussed in Parliament but is not subject to its vote. All other expenditure from the Consolidated Fund is subject to the vote of Parliament. Proposals for vote-able expenditure are submitted to Parliament in the form of demands for grants. Parliament enjoys power to assent to or to refuse to assent to any demand, or to assent to it subject to a reduction of the amount.

After the grants have been made by Parliament, a Bill is introduced to provide for appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund moneys required to meet:

a.   the grants so made by Parliament ; and

b.   the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund.

An Appropriation Bill is usually passed in Jatiyo Shangshad without any discussion for two probable reasons: first, detailed discussion has already taken place on the demands for grants; and, second, no amendment having the effect of varying the amount of any grant can be proposed.

Ensuring Accountability of the Government

The Constitution states that the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament. The Rules of Procedure of Parliament have prescribed a number of devices to make the Government answerable and accountable to Parliament. These include:

         Questions

         Half-an-hour Discussion

         Call Attention

         Resolution

         Discussion for short duration

         Motion (General)

         Adjournment Motion

         No-confidence Motion

Among these devices, questions and call attention notices feature in almost all sittings. In fact, the first hour of every sitting, unless otherwise directed by the Speaker, is earmarked for Members to ask questions on matters of public importance. Ministers answer all questions in writing. However, oral answers are also given to 'starred' questions i.e. questions marked with asterisks by Members. Once a starred question has been answered, Members can ask supplementary questions. It is followed by call attention notices. Questions and call attention notices are the most common devices used to raise discussions on the floor of the House.

Members of Parliament

The post-election parliamentary process commences with the administration of oath to MPs-elect by the outgoing Speaker in accordance with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure.  The tenure of a Parliament, as we have seen, commences from its first sitting, but membership of Parliament begins from the date a member-elect takes oath of his office. An MP-elect cannot take his seat in Parliament before taking oath of office. In this regard the constitution says that if a person sits or votes as a member of Parliament before he takes the oath he becomes liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of one thousand taka to be recovered as a debt due to the Republic.

Thus an MP-elect becomes a Member of Parliament only after he has taken the oath. The scheme of the Constitution suggests that a member-elect should take oath of office as early as possible after the result has been declared but it allows a maximum of ninety days to him to do so. If he fails, he loses his seat unless the Speaker had in the meantime extended this period for good reasons.

The oath taking of Members is an essential pre-condition for the formation of the new government, because the President has to appoint as Prime Minister the Member of Parliament who commands the support of the majority of Members of Parliament. Soon after taking oath, MPs of a party or group assemble primarily to elect the leader of their respective party or group. If a party has obtained a clear majority of seats in the general election it is rather easy for the President to identity the MP who commands the support of the majority in Parliament and to invite him/her to take over as the Prime Minister and form the cabinet, which must have at least 90% of its members chosen from Members of Parliament.

Parliament has to be summoned to meet within thirty days after official declaration of results of polling in the general election. Parliament can be summoned by the President only after a Prime Minister has assumed office, for the constitution provides that Parliament shall be summoned by President upon written advice of the Prime Minister.

During the period when Parliament had 30 seats reserved for women, Members of Parliament had at least one constitutional function to perform before the first sitting of Parliament viz. to be voters in the election to seats reserved for women. Only a Member of Parliament, not MP-elect, could vote in this election. It is, however, a different matter that elections to reserved seats were never contested. The majority party always won these seats, sometimes sharing two or three seats with another party. This transitory provision regarding reservation of seats has already expired upon the dissolution of the seventh Parliament. But in the 8th Parliament in 11th session, 2004 the provision for 45 reserved women seats has been made according to the 14th amendment of the constitution for the residual period of 8th parliament and for next 10 years from the beginning of the 9th Parliament in which women MPs are to be elected on the basis of proportional representation in the Parliament through single transferable vote (STV).

The outgoing Speaker accords recognition to two Members of Parliament as the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition following the formation of government, if they are elected by the parliamentary party of the largest party in opposition before the commencement of the first session of the new Parliament. The leader and the deputy leader of the largest party or group in opposition to the government in Parliament gets that recognition which is published in the official gazette in the form of a notification. This recognition can be given only after the oath taking of members.

No person can at the same time be a Member of Parliament in respect of two or more constituencies. The law, however, allows a person to be a candidate for up to a maximum of five seats. When a person is elected as a member for more than one constituency, he earns an obligation to make a signed declaration to the Election Commission, within thirty days of his last election, specifying the constituency he wishes to represent. The seats of other constituencies for which he was elected fall vacant after this declaration. Should he fail to make the declaration within thirty days, all the seats for which he was elected fall vacant. Until a member-elect fulfils his obligation of making the signed declaration, he does not qualify to take oath as a Member of Parliament.

Administering the oath of office to a Member of Parliament is the responsibility of the Speaker or his nominee. In the absence of the Speaker, this responsibility devolves upon the Deputy Speaker. It may be recalled that the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker continue in office until their successors enter upon their respective offices. Therefore, the term 'Speaker', when used in the context of administration of oath after a general election until the new Speaker has entered into his office, always refers to the outgoing Speaker. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Constituent Assembly continued in office until the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the first Parliament.

Name and Composition of Parliament

The Constitution of Bangladesh in its two texts, Bengali and English, gives the unicameral legislature the name of ?Jatiyo Shangshad? in Bengali and ?House of the Nation? in English. However, the term ?House of the Nation? is rarely used. Rather the one-word nomenclature, 'Parliament', has gained currency, probably because the term 'House of the Nation' is used only once in the Constitution. Many do not know that the Constitution contemplates Parliament to be known in English as ?House of the Nation.?

The Parliament of Bangladesh is a unicameral legislature consisting of 300 members. They are directly elected from an equal number of territorial constituencies, that is one from each constituency, on the basis of adult franchise. Earlier there used to be 30 seats reserved for women who were elected by the directly elected Members. This provision in the Constitution for the reservation of seats for women was a transitory one. The 7th Parliament was the last Parliament to have this reservation. With the exception of the first Parliament, which had 15 reserved seats for women, and the fourth Parliament, which had no such reservation, all previous Parliaments(before 8th Parliament) of Bangladesh had included the 30 reserved seats. In the 8th Parliament the Constitution ( Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 2004 was passed by the Parliament on May 2004 by which the following provision was inserted in the constitution of Bangladesh:

Art. 65(3) "Until the dissolution of Parliament occurring next after the expiration of the period of ten years beginning from the date of the first meeting of the Parliament next after the Parliament in existence at the time of the commencement of the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act. 2004, there shall be reserved forty five seats exclusively for women members and they will be elected by the aforesaid members in accordance with law on the basis of procedure of proportional representation in the Parliament through single transferable vote:".

This reservation of seats in favour of women did not disqualify them from being candidates in the general election.

Parliament Secretariat

Constitutional Provision: The provision in Article 79 of the Constitution regarding the Secretariat of Parliament is unique, at least for two reasons: one, no such provision is to be found in the constitutions of most other countries and, two, by the use of the word 'own' in clause (1) of that Article, the Constitution makes an emphatic assertion that Parliament would have a secretariat independent of ministerial control and supervision. Let us first have a look at the constitutional provision in the said Article:

"79. (1) Parliament shall have its own Secretariat

(2) Parliament may, by law, regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to the Secretariat of Parliament.

(3) Until provision is made by Parliament, the President may, after consultation with the Speaker, make rules regulating the recruitment and condition of service of persons appointed to the secretariat of Parliament, and rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any law."

  This constitutional provision regarding Parliament having its own secretariat prompts one to mention the characteristics of parliamentary staff serving the House of Commons as aptly described by Philip Marsden:

" The staff which serve the (House of) Commons within the Palace of Westminster ? are not answerable in any way to the Government of the day. Nor are they appointed by politicians or political organisations; if they were, their usefulness would disappear overnight. They are the servants only of the House, and it is this long-preserved independence from political control that has endowed them with their own special value to the smooth running of the machinery of government. Within the Palace precincts they are rigidly, almost religiously, non-political. Whatever the complexion of the Government in office the House can be certain of receiving that completely impartial and professionally expert service for which its Officers enjoy a reputation second to none, and upon which all Members can, and do, rely unhesitatingly, regardless of party affiliations, religious distinctions or personal differences of temperament.

Because these officials are servants of the House, and have not to rely on political patronage either for their appointments or for their continuation in office, they are able to devote the whole of their lives to their task and to develop their individual capacities to a very high standard of professionalism."

  The provision in clause (1) of the Article 79 seems to aim at a Secretariat of Jatiyo Shangshad of the kind described by Marsden. The constitution visualises a Secretariat which is independent of executive control and is staffed by persons who can look forward to their career there and develop specialisation and professionalism of a high standard required of a modern Parliament. With the enactment of the law known as Parliament Secretariat Act, 1994, as stipulated clause (2) of the Article, the foundation of such a secretariat has been solidly laid.

Parliament Secretariat Act, 1994

The Parliament Secretariat Act, 1994 has added certain distinct features to the Parliament Secretariat, some of which are mentioned below:     

1. The Parliament Secretariat is not under the administrative control of any Ministry.
2. Salaries and allowances of officers and staff of the Parliament Secretariat are a charged expenditure upon the consolidated fund of the Republic.
3. Budget of the Parliament Secretariat is finally approved by the Speaker who obtains the advise of the Parliament Secretariat Commission on it before forwarding the same to the Ministry of Finance for its incorporation in the annual financial statement of the Govt. The Ministry of Finance cannot scrutinise the budget of the Parliament Secretariat as it does in case of budgets of other Ministries.
4. The Parliament Secretariat Act has instituted a 5-member Parliament Secretariat Commission with the Speaker as its Chairman. Four other members of the Commission are: The Prime Minister, The Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister for Finance. A Member of the Commission can nominate an M.P. to represent him/her in the Commission.
5. The Commission has advisory functions in respect of determination of the strength of officers and staff of Parliament Secretariat, increase and decrease in their number, creation and abolition of a post, preparation of annual budget and expenditure of money provided in the budget etc.
6. The Speaker has been invested with all administrative and financial  powers of the Secretariat and has been made accountable to Parliament in respect of all work done by the Parliament Secretariat.
7. Section 4 of the Act has specified the duties and responsibilities of the Parliament Secretariat. The Act also provides that the Parliament Secretariat shall be constituted with officers and staff recruited according to procedure prescribed by rules. The Secretary of Parliament is responsible to the Speaker for proper performance of functions by the Secretariat.

 Structure and Functions

The Parliament Secretariat is a professional public service structure of officers and staff headed by the Secretary. The Secretary of any legislature is an important functionary in the parliamentary arena. Most national level legislatures in Asia, including those in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and some in Europe designate him as Secretary General, while most in the Commonwealth of Nations prefer to call him the Clerk of the House.

The principal function of the Secretary of Jatiyo Shangshad, like his counterparts in other legislatures, is to assist and advice the Speaker in the matter of exercise of the powers and functions belonging to him under the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure. He makes himself readily available for suggestions as and when asked for by the Speaker. During sittings of Parliament he occupies a seat right in front of the Speaker in the House at a lower level. He is flanked by senior officials of the Secretariat including the Additional Secretary (Legislation) who often takes over some of his duties in assisting the Speaker.

A large number of his parliamentary functions are laid down in the Rules of Procedure but there are many others emanating from practices and conventions of the House. When Parliament is summoned by the President, the Secretary issues summons to each Member to attend the session. He maintains a roll of Members of the House which is signed, in his presence, by every newly elected member after taking   oath. He causes the preparation of Orders of the Day for each sitting of Parliament for approval of the Speaker and, after such approval, he sends a copy of it to all Members and others concerned. He studies every motion and its amendments and advises the Speaker on their admissibility under the rules. He also acts as secretary to all parliamentary committees and sub-committees. Parliamentary duties and functions apart, Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat also performs a number of administrative and other functions under the Parliament Secretariat Act, 1994. He is principal accounting officer of the Parliament Secretariat. He has the following four distinct functions:

1. He works as Secretary to Parliament;
2. He works as Secretary to Parliamentary Committees;
3. He administers various services needed for smooth functioning of Parliament;
4. He prepares the budget of Parliament Secretariat and other offices associated with it including budget for remuneration and privileges for Members of Parliament and administers the same after its approval. He also recruits people to assist him in the discharge of these and other functions.

The first two functions listed above may be described as parliamentary functions, while the other two as administrative functions.

These four functions of the Secretary are performed in the following six wings:

•   Legislative Support Wing
• Committee Support Wing
• Inter Parliamentary Affairs, Security & Planning Wing
• Administrative Support Wing
• Human Resource Wing
• Finance & Information Services Wing

The Legislative Support Wing and the Inter Parliamentary Affairs, Security & Planning Wing, each headed by a Additional Secretary, work under the control and supervision of Secretary, while the Committee Support Wing, Administrative Support Wing, Human Resource Wing, and the Finance & Information Services Wing, headed by four different Joint Secretaries, function under the control of Secretary.

Legislative Support Wing

Any Member or a Minister who wants to raise any motion or lay any report or raise a question in the floor of the House is required under the Rules of Procedure to give a notice in writing addressed to the Secretary. All notices are received in the Notice Office and sent to one or the other branch or section of the Legislative Wing where these notices are examined in the light of relevant rules and procedure to determine their admissibility.

  Most of the work-load in the Legislation Wing is on the Legislation Section I which, besides being responsible for processing of Government Bills, also deals with some critical subjects such as, administration of oath of Members by the Speaker, summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament, preparation and circulation of the Orders of the Day, demand for grants, cut motions and all matters connected with budget, publication of a Bulletin on each day of sitting and also on other occasions required under the rules etc.

  All notices for introduction of a Government Bill in the House are sent to this section for processing in accordance with the Rules of Procedure including actions such as printing of the Bill, distribution of its copies among Members, its inclusion in the Orders of the Day for introduction, reference of the Bill to the concerned Standing Committee, motion for consideration of the Bill, circulation of amendments etc. Once passed in the House, the Bill is printed again incorporating the amendments if there is any together with an authentication from the Speaker that the Bill has been passed in the House. The Bill is then presented to the President for assent and after his assent the Bill is published in the official gazette. These actions and many more in the legislative process are taken or initiated by the legislative branch in respect of a Government Bill. Legislation Section I also serves as the secretariat of two important parliamentary committees viz. The Business Advisory Committee and the Committee on Rules of Procedure. Incidentally, both these committees are headed by the Speaker.

Similar action in respect of Private Members' Bills is initiated by the other legislative branch known as Legislation Section II. This Branch also examines the admissibility of notices of resolutions, which are received in every session from members in hundreds, if not in thousands. After the admissibility of these notices has been determined by the Speaker, the admitted resolutions are put to a ballot to select only five for inclusion in the Orders of the Day for one private members' day.

After a session of Parliament is summoned, Members give notices of  a large number of questions which are sent to the Question Section for examination of their admissibility under the Rules of Procedure. Once the Speaker has given his decision on the admissibility of questions almost on a daily basis all further action on these questions such as preparation of a full list of admitted questions for a day, circulation of the admitted list of questions to the Members and concerned Ministries, collection of replies from the Ministries, printing of the questions and the replies in one list etc. are taken by the Question Section.

There is another section in this Wing which examines admissibility of notices for privilege motions, adjournment motions, call attention, short discussions, motions(general) etc. under the relevant provisions in the Rules of Procedure. The section has also the responsibility to overview the entire orders of the day for a sitting and prepare briefs for the Speaker on each item included in it. Very little time is available to this section for this job because the orders of day is generally available late in the evening and the sitting commences early next morning around 9-30 A.M.

The legislation wing has a legislative drafting unit whose primary duty is to assist members in drafting Private Members' Bills. It also assists the Standing Committee on Private Members' Bills and Resolutions in redrafting of Bills, if necessary. The unit examines the constitutionality of Government Bills, assists all Standing Committees in the examinations of Bills referred to them, assists, all the branches and sections of Parliament Secretariat in the drafting of Bills, Rules, Regulations etc., and also agreement and memorandums of understanding to be signed between Parliament Secretariat and any other organisation, donor agency etc. The unit is headed by a senior Legislative Draftsman who reports to Joint Secretary (Legislation).

The Legislative Support Wing has also the following other component parts:

• Reporters' Cell
• Editing Section
• Printing and Publications Section
• Public Relations Branch.

Reporters' Cell

The Chief Reporter leads a team of 21 Reporters, 3 designated as Senior Reporters and 17 as Official Reporters, who perform the following main duties:

• Verbatim reporting of proceedings in the House, and
• Preparation of synopsis of committee deliberations, if meetings are held when Parliament is not in session.

A Reporter takes a turn of five minutes' duration reporting the verbatim proceedings in the House in shorthand. His next turn comes in about ninety minutes during which time he goes back to his office and renders his shorthand notes into long hand in a computer. The Chief Reporter ensures preparation of the proceedings in the House within 48 hours from the end of a sitting. The proceedings so prepared are referred to as unedited debates and are available for limited circulation among some parliamentary functionaries, the Library of Parliament, the Editing Branch etc. A copy of the speech of a Member as reported in the   proceedings is sent to him for corrections, if any, within a given time.

For preparation of synopsis of committee deliberations a team of two Reporters is deputed to attend a committee meeting. They prepare the synopsis in four to five days' time.

Editing Section

  The Editing Section, functioning under the supervision of the Chief Editor of Debates, is responsible for editing debates in the House as reported by the Reporters' Cell. As soon as a copy of the computer transcript of the unedited debates for a sitting of Parliament is received, the Editing Section prepares a cover page for each debate with necessary entries, inserts another page showing names of the Speaker and other functionaries, a table of contents with headings and page numbers, divides a speech into several paragraphs, removes ambiguities and grammatical mistakes, verifies quotations from the Constitution, Rules of Procedure and readily available books and documents. reflects the decision of the Chair on expunction of un-parliamentary expressions and inserts a footnote to that effect, checks the correctness of the title of books and names of authors referred to in a speech, makes necessary changes in a speech as reported if any violation of Rule 270 of the Rules of Procedure is observed.

T he Chief Editor is assisted by 2 Editors, 2 Assistant Editors and four Sub-Editors.  The Chief Editor reports to Joint Secretary (Legislation).

Printing and Publication Section

The Parliament Secretariat produces a large number of printed matters, such as, debates in each day of sitting, admitted list of questions from Members; list of questions from Members and answers by Ministers; Bills; committee reports on Bills together with Bills; other Committee reports; daily Bulletins during sessions, obituary references, list of cut motions when demands for grants are discussed, list of Members of Parliament with their postal addresses, summary of proceedings (session-wise), programmes of visiting parliamentary delegates, biography of Members of Parliament. Some of them are published on each sitting of Parliament, some only once during a whole session and some as and when the necessity arises.

There is no printing press solely available to cater to the needs of Parliament. The B.G. Press and the Government Printing Press divide between themselves the responsibility of printing parliamentary materials. All Bills are printed in the B.G. Press, while most other matters like debates, questions etc. are printed in the Government Printing Press.

All branches, sections, units etc. of the Parliament Secretariat forward their printing materials to its Printing and Publications Section, who gets the printing of these materials done in the concerned press.

Materials such as Bills, Committee reports, questions etc. are required often required to be printed at a very short notice. The printing and Publication Section takes the material to the concerned press, sometimes at odd hours, and gets it printed. This section also offers proof reading service to the press, which is sometimes done in the press itself. There is a stand-by arrangement in the section to make photocopies of any material up to a maximum of 500 copies with the help of one large and two small off-set printers.

The Section is headed by Deputy Director, Printing and Publications who reports to J.S. (Legislation). The Deputy Director is assisted by a Printing and Publications officers and other staff, most of whom are proof-readers.

 

Public Relations Branch

The Public Relations Branch of the Secretariat provides services to facilitate the reporting in the media proceedings in the House and also co-ordinates similar services offered to the media by other branches of the Secretariat. It extends professional assistance to the representatives of the media engaged in the coverage of parliamentary proceedings. This unit also issues press releases on the summoning of Parliament, assenting to Bills by the President, visits of in-coming and out-going parliamentary delegations, meetings and conferences etc sponsored by the Parliament Secretariat and on other matters as may be decided by the Speaker. Each meeting of the 46 parliamentary committees is reported to the media through a press release from this Branch immediately after the meeting. It also arranges television coverage of all parliamentary events including meetings of parliamentary committees.

The Public Relations Branch also performs duties connected with public relations of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. It has some speech writing duties too. When asked by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, this Unit prepares drafts of speeches for them to be delivered in different gatherings. Messages of felicitations or replies thereto are also drafted by this Unit. The Unit puts up press-clippings of new items or matters of interest to him daily. It issues clarifications of misleading news items published in major news-papers about Parliament, its Committees and functionaries.

This Branch is responsible for publication of short biographies of all Members of Parliament. The biographies of the Members of the 7^th Jatiyo Shangshad will come out shortly.  This Branch puts up drafts of obituary references to be made by the Speaker generally on the first sitting of each session.

This Branch is headed by a Director. He is assisted by a Deputy Director and 6 Assistant Directors. The Director reports to Joint Secretary (Legislation).

Committee Support Wing

Bangladesh Jatiyo Shangshad has a large committee system. Each Committee has powers to appoint sub-committees. The status of a sub-committee is similar to that of a main committee. Combined, the total number of committees and sub-committees functioning in Bangladesh Jatiyo Shangshad at times exceeded 120.

Meeting of the Committees are convened by the respective chairs. The Rules of Procedure provide that each of the 35 Standing Committees on Ministries should meet at least once in every month. There is no such compulsion in respect of meetings of other 11 committees. The Public Accounts Committee, however, holds meetings almost twice a month.

The Committee Wing of the Parliament Secretariat is responsible for rendering secretariat service to 40 parliamentary committees including all the 35 Standing Committees on Ministries as well as their sub-committees. Legislation Wing renders secretariat service to five committees and Administration Wing to one. The main functions of the Committee Wing are:

1. Issuing notices of committee meetings to Members of the committee and others concerned;
2. Preparation of working papers for the meeting (sometimes the concerned Ministry would prepare the working paper);
3. Preparation of minutes of the meeting and circulation of the same after due approval;
4. Calling for papers and witnesses, if so decided by the committee;
5. Arranging visits of sub-committees to various places for inspection, inquiry etc.
6. Drafting reports of the committees and taking other actions such as to      get the reports printed and presented in the House.

The Secretary of Jatiyo Shangshad is the ex-officio Secretary to every committee and sub-committee of Jatiyo Shangshad. The Rules of Procedure, however, provide that the Secretary may authorise an officer of the Secretariat to act as Secretary to any Committee/Sub-committee on his behalf. The Secretary of course, attends all the meetings of the committees headed by the Speaker.

Joint Secretary (Committee) is the head of the Committee Wing. There are 4 Deputy Secretaries, 7 Assistant Secretaries or Senior Assistant Secretaries and 6 Committee Officers in the Committee Wing. The Jatiyo Shangshad Library also functions under the overall supervision of Joint Secretary (Committee). Joint Secretary (Committee) reports to Additional Secretary (Legislation).

Jatiyo Shangshad Library

  With a collection of a little over 75 thousand volumes of books and other materials that include debates of different Parliaments, reports, magazines, periodicals, gazettes etc. the Jatiyo Shangshad Library is one of the largest in the country. This is the lone library in the country that follows the Library of Congress classification and cataloguing system, which the library adopted in the early 80's.

Located in the ground floor around the only pillar that takes the entire load of the central block of the huge Parliament Building, the library has a reading room with present seating arrangement for 45 persons. The reading room has however a seating capacity of 200 persons. Most of the collections in the library are of parliamentary interest. The collection also includes books on law and jurisprudence, political science, economics, ethics and religion, history and international relations, among some others. It has the following rare materials:

    Name of rare materials                                                  Period

1. Debates of Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh             1972

2. Debates of Bengal Legislative Assembly                     1937 - 46

3. Debates of East Pakistan Assembly                            1948 - 69

4. Debates of the Pakistan National Assembly                1947 - 69

5. Pakistan Gazette                                                        1948 - 71

6. Dhaka Gazette                                                           1948 - 71

7. Bangladesh Gazette                                                   1971 to date

8. All Acts, Ordinances, President's Orders, Martial Law Proclamations, Orders, Regulations 1836 to date

Debates of first to the seventh Parliament of Bangladesh are available in the library. The library has all the copies of a number of major daily newspapers published from Dhaka since 1974. It has also a good collection of international magazines from that time.

The Jatiyo Shangshad Library is primarily meant to meet the needs and requirements of Members of Parliament in performance of their functions as legislators. Officers and staff of Parliament Secretariat can also use the library. Research scholars particularly those from the universities and other educational and research institutions are allowed to use the library, if prior permission of the Secretary of Parliament is obtained. Such use is however subject to certain conditions. While a Member of Parliament or an officer or staff of the Parliament Secretariat can borrow books other than reference and rare books, for a period of 7 days during sessions of Parliament and for 15 days when Parliament is not in session, research scholars do not enjoy this facility of borrowing books. Demand for use of the library by research scholars is on the increase.

The library remains open on Saturday to Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm and on Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm. When Parliament is in session it follows the office timing of the Parliament Secretariat. The library remains open until half-an-hour after the end of the sitting.

The library has three units viz. library, documentation and research, each headed by a Librarian or a Research Officer of the status of a Class I Officer. The Director of the Library has the responsibility of supervising the operation of the library. He is assisted by a Deputy Director, who is also known as the Chief Librarian.

There is a Library Committee of the House consisting of 10 members. The Deputy Speaker is the ex-officio Chairman of that committee. Officers of the Library render secretariat service to the Library Committee.  

Administrative Support Wing

The Administrative Support Wing is responsible for providing several services to the House, its committees, its Members, officers and staff of the Parliament Secretariat and to the visitors interested in the proceedings of the House. Prominent among these services are the following:

1. Arrangement for recitation from the Holy Quran at the commencement of each sitting of Parliament;
2. Arrangement for interpretation of proceedings of Parliament from Bengali to English if invited foreign are present in the galleries during sittings of the House;
3. Procurement, supply and maintenance of office equipment (such as type-writers, computers, photocopiers, fax machines, cyclostyling machines, security equipment etc.), and furniture and fixtures for parliamentary offices like the offices of the Leader and Deputy Leader of House, Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip and Whips of Parliament and for the Parliament Secretariat;
4. Procurement and supply of office stationary for use by different offices including those required during sessions of Parliament;
5. Despatch and receipt of out-going and in-coming letters;
6. Residential accommodation for MPs in the MP Hostels including catering arrangements and supply of furniture and linens etc.;
7. Installation of one telephone at the residence of each Member of Parliament and installation of telephones at the offices and residences of parliamentary functionaries including officials of the Parliament Secretariat;
8. Import of duty free cars by Members of Parliament;
9. Provision for insurance coverage for Members of Parliament;
10. Arrangement for issue of identity cards to Members of Parliament and officers and staff of the Parliament Secretariat;
11. Providing MPs with travelling passes enabling them to travel within Bangladesh free of any costly air, rail and steamer;
12. Provision of vehicles for official use;
13. Security arrangements of the Parliament Building and the two MP Hostels;
14. Issuing passes for galleries of the House during sessions;
15. Inter-parliamentary Relations of Jatiyo Shangshad; and
16. Maintenance of the Web Site and Internet for Bangladesh Parliament.

  This Wing is also responsible for running by concerned authorities a medical centre, a branch of the Sonali Bank, a Post Office and, during sessions, an Airline counter within the Parliament premises..

Matters relating to MP Hostels, catering services etc. are the concern of the 'House Committee' consisting of 12 members headed by the Chief Whip of Parliament. The Service Branch in this Wing serves as the secretariat of this Committee. This Wing is also responsible for allocation of office and residential accommodation to the parliamentary functionaries and officers and staff of the Parliament Secretariat.

Matters connected with Inter-Parliamentary relations of Jatiyo Shangshad is the concern of the Delegation Branch in this Wing. This Branch is responsible for payment of annual subscription to, and all other matters such as participation in meetings and conferences of, the following international and regional parliamentary bodies:

• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU);
• Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (PUOICM)
• Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
•  Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Asia Region)
• Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP)
• Association of SAARC Speakers & Parliamentarians
• Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population & Development

Matters connected with all in-coming and out-going parliamentary delegations are dealt with in this branch.  The delegation branch is headed by a Deputy Secretary who is assisted by two Assistant Secretaries and a Protocol Officer. 

Joint Secretary (Administration) heads this Wing. He is assisted by three Deputy Secretaries, eight Senior Assistant Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries and a Protocol Officer. Joint Secretary (Administration) reports to Additional Secretary (Implementation). This wing has also two specialised offices: 

1. Office of Serjeant-at-Arms and
2.  Law Office.

Office of the Serjeant at Arms

1. Office of the Serjeant at Arms is an age old institution and sustains as a legacy of West Minister. Over the years, however, the role of the institution had undergone changes in countries, which adopted this institution to meet the emerging challenges of security. But the principal traditional role still persists and has been given legitimacy through Rules of Procedure. In discharging the responsibilities of the office, a senior officer is appointed in the Parliament secretariat whose title is “Serjeant at Arms”. He is supported by two Deputy Serjeant at Arms and Assistant Serjeant at Arms. The principal duty of the Serjeant at Arms is to attend upon and enforce the orders of the Honorable Speaker as laid down in the Rules of Procedure. He also regulates overall security.

2. Normally a Captain of Bangladesh Navy (Equivalent to Colonel of Army and Group Captain of Air Force) is appointed on deputation as Serjeant at Arms. A Squadron Leader and Superintendent of Police are appointed on deputation as Deputy Serjeant at Arms. On the other hand, the Assistant Serjeant at Arms is a promoted Parliament secretariat Security Inspector. Sometimes armed forces officer is also appointed on deputation as Assistant Serjeant at Arms. Under the office a good number of deputed armed forces personnel and Parliament secretariat security personnel perform their duties for maintaining law and order within the precincts of the house. Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Armed Police Battalion assist the office for ensuring security within the Parliament complex.

3. The office of the Serjeant at Arms functions through following channel of command:

HONOURABLE SPEAKER
SECRETARY
ADDL SECRETARY (IPA)
SERJEANT AT ARMS
DEPUTY SERJEANT AT ARMS-1(ADMIN)	DEPUTY SERJEANT AT ARMS-2(OPS)
ASSTT SERJEANT AT ARMS-1	ASSTT SERJEANT AT ARMS-2

Duties and Responsibilities of the office

4. Among the duties and responsibilities assigned to office of the Serjeant at Arms by the rules, administrative orders and practices, the following deserve special mention;

a. Enforce the orders of the Honorable Speaker in terms of maintenance of order and discipline as laid down in the Rules of Procedure.

b. Attend the Honorable Speaker while entering and leaving the chamber during the Parliament session.

c. Ensure law and order within the precincts of the House and security within the Parliament complex.

d. Protocol duties and ceremonial functions.

e. Control the access of authorized personnel to the Parliament house.

f. Issue identity cards to Member of Parliaments, Officials, Employees and other concern personnel of the Parliament.

  Law Office 

The Law Office is the most recently established working unit in the Parliament Secretariat performing a number of important duties and responsibilities not necessarily falling within the sphere of the wing to which the office belongs. The office gives legal opinion on service matters in general and on disciplinary matters in particular. It deals with all cases of Parliament and Parliament Secretariat pending before courts of law. The office has only one officer, the Law Officer. With the appointment of the present incumbent of the post on deputation from the Judicial Service, the Law Office started functioning in 1996. The Law Officer also assists the Speaker in the drafting of some of his rulings in the House. The Law Officer also makes himself available in meetings of Committees examining Bills referred to them by the House.

Human Resource Wing

The functions of the Human Resousce Wing relate to the following two distinct areas:

• Personnel administration; and
• Accounts.

The Legislative Support Wing has also the following other component parts:

1. Human Resource-I

2. Human Resource-II

3. Human Resource-III

4. Training Cell

5. Computer Cell

Work in each of these areas is organised under a Deputy Secretary.

Matters connected with personnel administration of all officers and staff from recruitment to retirement, which includes their career development through in-service training inside and outside the country, their promotion and confirmation, maintenance of their annual confidential reports, grant of leave, recreation allowances, disciplinary actions for violation of rules and orders etc. are dealt with in three establishment sections. Obtaining services of officers of the Government on deputation and their are reversion are also the concerns of these section. It also deals with matters relating to appointment of personal staff according to provisions of law for the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip, Whips and Chairmen of Committees for the duration they hold their respective offices. Proposals for amendments in the existing laws governing remuneration and privileges of the above and also Members of Parliament are also dealt with in one of the establishment section. Assumption of office by the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip and Whips are notified by this section. Speaker nominates certain numbers of MPs to the Senates of the Universities and to the governing bodies etc. of some national bodies under some existing statute. These nominations of the Speaker are communicated by one of the establishment sections.

The Accounts Branch is primarily responsible for two main functions viz. preparation of the yearly budget and disbursement of funds. The budget of Parliament is divided into the following sections:

• Parliament Secretariat
• Speaker and Deputy Speaker including their staff
• Leader and Deputy Leader of the House (with very nominal allocations)
• Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition including personal staff
• Chief Whip and Whips, including their personal staff
• Members of Parliament

The Speaker gets a statement of the estimated expenditure in respect of the above heads for each financial year at least three months before its commencement. The Parliament Secretariat Commission advises the Speaker on the formulation of the budget. The budget is forwarded by the Speaker to the Minister for Finance for incorporation in the annual financial statement of the Govt.

Disbursement of funds is done in several ways but one common feature is that bills have to be prepared and submitted to the Chief Accounts Officer of the Government who is specifically responsible for the accounts of the Parliament Secretariat. All such bills are pre-audited and once they are passed, cheques are issued by that office in favour of the Disbursing Officer of the Parliament Secretariat. Officers of certain categories are termed as self-drawing officers who submit their own monthly pay and other bills through the Accounts Branch and cheques are issued in their favour. This Branch also disburses discretionary fund of MPs on a quarterly basis. A Member of Parliament who does not opt for travelling passes receives a sum of Tk. 30,000 per annum in lieu of the passes. This amount is disbursed in three instalments. Members of Parliament and all other dignitaries are self-drawing officers but they do not have to sign any pay bill every month. Their monthly pay or remuneration bill is paid through cheques.

This Branch has a role to play in co-ordinating replies on audit objections furnished by different branches of the Secretariat. Re-appropriation of sums of money from one to another is among the responsibilities of this Branch. Some government advances to the officers and staff such as house building advance, motor car/motor cycle/cycle advance and advances from the General Provident Fund are made by this Branch. This advances are recoverable in monthly instalments.

President and Parliament

In many countries practising a parliamentary form of government of the Westminster model, Heads of States are constituent parts of their respective Parliament. British Parliament, for example, consists of the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Parliaments of India and of Pakistan are similarly constituted with the President and two Houses. There is, however, no express provision in the Bangladesh Constitution for making the President a constituent part of Parliament.  He is, however, invested with parliamentary and legislative functions similar to those enjoyed by the Heads of States in the above-mentioned countries. Some of the parliamentary and legislative powers and functions of the President are mentioned below:

a.  Parliament is summoned, prorogued and dissolved by the President in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister tendered to him in writing.

b. The President may address Parliament and send messages. There is also a mandatory provision in the Constitution that the President shall address Parliament at the commencement of the first session after a general election and also at the commencement of the first session each year. His address is discussed in the House through a motion of thanks.

c.  A Bill passed in Jatiyo Shangshad becomes an Act of Parliament only after President has assented, or is deemed to have assented, to it.

d. No Money Bill can be introduced in Parliament except on the recommendation of the President. When a Money Bill is passed in Parliament and is presented to the President, he has to assent to it within a period of 15 days.

e.  In the case of a Bill, other than a Money Bill, the President may either assent to it or return it to Parliament within 15 days of its presentation to him with a message requesting that one or more of the Bill's provisions be reconsidered. He may also request the consideration of any amendments specified by him in the message. The last, and so far the only, Bill to be returned to Parliament by the President with a message requesting reconsideration was the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 1998.

f.   When the President returns a Bill to Parliament for reconsideration, the Bill can be presented to him again for assent only if it is passed by Parliament by the votes of a majority of the total number of its members. This second time, the President is required to assent to the Bill within seven days. If he fails to do so, he is deemed to have assented to the Bill on the expiry of that period.

g.  At any time when Parliament is dissolved or is not in session, the President may make and promulgate an Ordinance, if he is satisfied that circumstances obtaining call for immediate legislation. From the time of its promulgation, an Ordinance has the like force of law as an Act of Parliament. An Ordinance has to be laid before Parliament at its first meeting following its promulgation and it ceases to have effect at the expiration of 30 days after it is so laid in Parliament, unless the Ordinance is, in the meantime, repealed or a resolution disapproving of the Ordinance is passed in Parliament.

h.  The President may, upon the advice of the Prime Minister authorise the withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund of the Republic funds necessary to meet expenditure for a period up to sixty days in a particular year pending the making of the grants and passing of the law for appropriation from that Fund by Parliament.

These stipulations in the Constitution, as well as others, leads one to the inevitable conclusion that the President of Bangladesh is, for all practical purposes, a constituent part of Parliament, despite there being no express provision to that effect in the Constitution.

Privileges and Immunities

Parliament, its Committees and its Members enjoy some privileges and immunities. The validity of proceedings in Parliament cannot be questioned in any court. A Member of Parliament is not liable to proceedings in any court in respect of any thing said, or any vote given, by him or her in Parliament or in any of its committees. A member or officer of Parliament in whom powers are vested for the regulation of procedure, the conduct of business or maintenance of order in parliament is not subject to the jurisdiction of any court for the exercise of any of his powers. Parliament can also determine other privileges for itself, its committees and members by an Act. No such Act has however been passed yet. However, a Member of Parliament cannot be arrested for any offence other than a criminal offence during a prescribed period before and after a session of Parliament and a meeting of committee of which he is a member. No arrest can be made nor any civil or criminal process can be served within the precincts of the House without obtaining the permission of the Speaker.

Sessions of Parliament

On the advice of the Prime Minister tendered to him in writing, the President summons Parliament specifying the time and place of the first meeting. The period beginning with the first sitting of Parliament and ending with its prorogation is termed a session of Parliament. A sitting means the meeting of Parliament from the commencement of its business to the termination thereof for a day. A meeting, which commences on a day and continues into the next day is considered to be a sitting of the day on which it commenced.  Once a session commences the Speaker may adjourn it to a date and time fixed by him.

The list of business for a sitting, prepared by Secretary of Parliament with the approval of the Speaker, is called the Orders of the Day, a copy of which is made available to all Members of Parliament at their addresses in Dhaka usually the night before the sitting.

At the commencement of each session, the Speaker nominates, from amongst Members of Parliament, a panel of not more than five Chairpersons and arranges their names in an order of precedence. In the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the person whose name is at the top of the panel, from amongst those present in the sitting, takes the Chair. 

Government business is transacted on four days of the week commencing on Sunday. The fifth day in the week, i.e. Thursday, is called Private Members' Day on which Private Members Business has preference. If a Thursday is allotted for transaction of government business, which happens in very rare cases such as presentation of budget in Parliament, one of the government days will then usually be earmarked as a Private Members Day. Some business such as questions, call attention notices, questions of privileges, discussions for short duration, adjournment motions, and other matters which are essentially private members business, are transacted either on all days or, ironically, only on government days.

A Minister who is not a Member of Parliament does not enjoy the right to vote, nor can he speak in Parliament on any matter not related to his Ministry.

If at any time during which Parliament is in session the attention of the person presiding is drawn to the fact that the number of members present is less than sixty, he shall either suspend the meeting until at least sixty members are present, or adjourn it.

A session of Parliament is prorogued by the President upon the advice of the Prime Minister, which is tendered to him in writing.

Tenure of Parliament

Unless sooner dissolved by the President, Parliament stands dissolved on the expiration of a period of five years from the date of its first meeting. In the extra-ordinary situation of the country being engaged in a war, this period of five years may be extended by an Act of Parliament by not more than one year at a time. The period cannot, however, be extended beyond six months after the termination of the war. The actual term of eight previous Parliaments are shown in the table below: -

Parliament	Date of First Sitting	Date of Dissolution	Actual Term
First Parliament	April 7,1973	Nov.6, 1975	2 years 6 months
Second Parliament	April 2,1979	March 24,1982	2 years 11 months
Third Parliament	July 10, 1986	Dec. 6,1987	1 year 5 months
Fourth Parliament	April 15,1988	Dec. 6,1990	2 years 7 months
Fifth Parliament	April 5, 1991	Nov. 24,1995	4 years 8 months
Sixth Parliament	March 19, 1996	March 30,1996	12 days
Seventh Parliament	July 14, 1996	July 13, 2001	5 years
Eighth Parliament	October 28,2001	October 27,2006	5 years
Ninth Parliament	January 25, 2009

The Committee System

The term ?Committee? - meaning a parliamentary committee  - has been defined in the Rules of Procedure of Bangladesh Parliament as a committee ?set up by or under the authority of Parliament and includes its sub-committees?. Formation of parliamentary committees, their powers and responsibilities as well as procedures followed by them or in respect of them are regulated by relevant provisions in the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure, parliamentary conventions, and rulings of the Speaker.

The Constitutional Basis of the Committee System

The committee system in Jatiyo Shangshad has its roots in the Constitution itself. The foundation of the system has been laid down by its Article 76, which is quoted below:-

?76. (1) Parliament shall appoint from among its members the following standing committees, that is to say:

1. A public accounts committee;
2. Committee on privileges; and
3. Such other standing committees as the rules of procedure of Parliament require.

(2) In addition to the committees referred to in clause (1), Parliament shall appoint other standing committees, and a committee so appointed may, subject to this Constitution and to any other law:

a.       examine draft Bills and other legislative proposals;

b.      review the enforcement of laws and propose measures for such enforcement;

c.       in relation to any matter referred to it by Parliament as a matter of public importance, investigate or inquire into the activities or administration of a Ministry and may require it to furnish, through an authorised representative, relevant information and to answer questions, orally or in writing;

4. perform any other function assigned to it by Parliament.

(3) Parliament may by law confer on committees appointed under this article powers for:

a.       enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, affirmation or otherwise;

b.      compelling the production of document.?

These provisions in our Constitution are unique in the sense that provisions regarding parliamentary committees are not generally mentioned in the constitution of a country. The aforesaid article of the constitution has given the Standing Committees the status of constitutional bodies.

Classification of Committees

The Rules of Procedure provide for three categories of committees:

1. Select Committees
2. Special Committees
3. Standing Committees

While a Select Committee is established to examine a Bill referred to it and report to Parliament, the scope of a Special Committee can be much wider. Its composition and functions are specified in the motion for its appointment. Tenure of a Select Committee or Special Committee ends with the submission of its final report to Parliament based on the terms of its reference.

  All other Committees of the Bangladesh Parliament, other than Select Committees and Special Committees, are termed Standing Committees, although the word ?Standing? does not preface some of the committees. Four of these committees are nominated by the Speaker while the rest are appointed by the House.  Some information on the nominated and appointed Standing Committees are given in the two tables below :

 

  Standing Committees Nominated by the Speaker

Sl. No.	Name of Committees	Number of Members	Chairman
1.	Business Advisory Committee	15	Speaker ex-officio
2.	House Committee	12	Nominated by Speaker
3.	Library Committee	10	Deputy Speaker ex-officio
4.	Committee on Petitions	10	Nominated by Speaker

Standing Committees Appointed by the House

Sl. No.	Committee	Number of Members	Chairman
1.	Privileges	10	Appointed by Parliament
2.	Public Accounts	15	Appointed by Parliament
3.	Public Undertakings	10	Appointed by Parliament
4.	Estimates	10	Appointed by Parliament
5.	Govt. Assurances	8	Appointed by Parliament
6.	Private Member's Bills and Resolutions	10	Appointed by Parliament
7.	Rules of Procedure	12	Speaker ex-officio
8.	Standing Committees on Ministries (one for each Ministry)	10 (in each committee)	Appointed by Parliament

  A Minister cannot sit as Chairperson or as a Member of the Committee on Petitions. Among the standing committees appointed by the House, there are three committees where too a Minister cannot sit either as chairperson or as a Member. These committees are Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Public Undertakings. A Member elected to any of these four Committees vacates his/her position in the Committee if she or he is appointed a Minister. A Minister cannot chair a standing Committee on a Ministry.

The Standing Committees on Ministries, known in some Parliaments as Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs), form the largest group of committees. Each of them essentially performs identical functions in relation to the respective ministry. Beginning with only 11 committees in 1974, there has been a steady increase in the number, functions and frequency of meetings of a Standing Committee on a Ministry. A Standing Committee on a Ministry is required to meet at least once a month and has the following functions to perform:

      to examine draft Bills and other legislative proposals;

      to review the work relating to the Ministry;

      to inquire into any activity or irregularity and serious complaint with respect to the Ministry;

      to examine any Bill or other matters referred to it by Parliament; and

      to examine any other matter within its jurisdiction.   

If a meeting of a Standing Committee on a Ministry is not held as stipulated in the Rules, the Speaker is authorised to convene a meeting of the Committee. The Standing Committees on Ministries in Bangladesh are among the most powerful Parliamentary Committees by virtue of the powers and functions given to them by the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure.

Salient Features of the Parliamentary Committee System

Formation

The committee system of Jatiyo Shangshad established under the provisions of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure consisted of 46 Standing Committees in the seventh Parliament. The number of committees in the eighth Parliament may be even higher since the government have formed two new ministries. It may be recalled that the rules provide for one committee for each ministry besides some others. The rules also provide for Select Committees and Special Committees.

The committee-system is not limited to the standing committees, select committees and special committees alone. A committee can appoint a sub-committee who enjoy almost similar powers like a main committee. More than 80 sub-committees were formed during the tenure of the seventh Parliament.

Tenure of Committees

All standing committees of Jatiyo Shangshad have a permanent character. Usually, a committee once formed continues until dissolution of Parliament. Such a long tenure of committees are not to be found in other Parliaments. All committees appointed by India?s Lok Sabha have a term of one year. These include Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) which can be compared to our Standing Committees on Ministries. A committee nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha also has a term of one year.

In view of this long tenure, the Parliamentary Committees in Jatiyo Shangshad get ample time to complete their tasks. Members of the committees can obtain detailed information on matters connected with their committees and can contribute significantly to the government?s decision making process in the relevant field. Parliament can, however, reconstitute a committee any time. Such reconstitution becomes necessary on appointment of a member of a committee as a Minister or to accommodate a member who has been elected in a bye-election. However, the tenure of a special committee or a select committee ends with the performance of its assigned responsibility.

Duties and Powers of Parliamentary Committees

Until recently the functions of some committees in the House of Commons used to be referred to as ?watchdog? function. It used to be said that there is a lot of shouting in a committee meeting but a parliamentary committee could not scratch or bite anyone because it had neither the claws nor the teeth to do so. However, times have changed and the Parliamentary Committees have now emerged as effective tools in the process of accountability of the Government. In this context, we find these days the use of the term ?oversight or over-seeing function? to describe a very important function of parliamentary committees.

Our constitution has vested the executive powers of the Republic on the Prime Minister to be exercised by him/her or on his/her authority. Thus it follows that the Parliamentary Committees cannot exercise any executive powers. This is true of all parliamentary systems including that of Britain. However, one must hasten to add the parliamentary committees have not been barred from making any recommendations on matters assigned to the executive branch. On the contrary, the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure have given certain powers to the Standing Committees of each of the Ministries. The Rules of Procedure state that:

  ?248.  . . . the functions of a Committee shall be to examine any bill or other matter referred to it by Parliament, to review the works relating to a Ministry which falls within its jurisdiction, to inquire into any activity or irregularity and serious complaint in respect of the Ministry and to examine, if it deems fit, any such other matter as may fall within its jurisdiction and to make recommendations:?

This provision has constitutional basis as may be seen in Article 76(2) of the Constitution.

The Standing Committees on ministries can review the enforcement of laws and the activities of the ministries or inquire into any activity or irregularity or serious complaints. Thus Standing Committees in Jatiyo Shangshad enjoy authority and can exercise powers of a kind not to be found in other parliamentary systems. Rule 203 of the Rules of Procedure empowers a Committee to summon any records, documents and persons that it may require for investigation. However, a question may be raised by the concerned person whether his own presence or production of documents in his possession is relevant to the work of the committee. Should a controversy of this nature arise, the Speaker is vested with powers to give a final decision. The government may decline to produce a document on the ground that its disclosure would be prejudicial to the safety or interest of the State. A parliamentary committee may administer oath to a witness to be examined before it. A member of a committee or any other person cannot make any disclosure of any evidence given by a witness before it is placed in the House.

Report of Parliamentary Committees

The Rules of Procedure provide that the report of a committee has to be presented within a month of the date on which reference to the Committee was made, if the House has not fixed any time for presentation of the report. A report may be preliminary or final. The Chairman, on behalf of a Committee, submits reports before the House under his signature. If the Chairman is not present, any other member of the committee can be nominated to present the report on behalf of the committee. In the fifth Parliament some of the committee reports were laid in the House with signatures of all members of the committee. A committee report is considered confidential until it is presented in the House.

Reports of parliamentary committees are presented in Parliament but most of them are not discussed. There are clear provisions regarding disposal of reports of the Committee on Privileges and the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure. The disposal of reports of select committee on bills have also been mentioned in detail in the legislative procedures of Parliament.  The parliamentary committees whose reports are not discussed in the House include the Public Accounts Committee, Public Undertakings Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Government Assurances and the Standing Committees on Ministries. Except in special circumstances, there is hardly any need for presentation of report of the Business Advisory Committee, House Committee and the Library Committee.

There is an unwritten rule or practice in the Jatiyo Shangshad in respect of reports of parliamentary committees, which are presented in the House but are not discussed. A report of this kind when presented in the House is considered to have been referred to the concerned ministry for implementation. The report of the Public Accounts Committee is a proper example of this kind. The Public Accounts Committee gives their views on the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General and places recommendations in Parliament for implementation by the respective ministries. It is the responsibility of a concerned ministry to implement the report of the Public Accounts Committee. Should a ministry be unable to implement any of the recommendations the same has to be conveyed to the committee in the form of a clarification.

This unwritten rule is applicable to most other committees of Parliament as well, including the standing committees on Ministries.

Consensus in the Parliamentary Committees

One happy feature that characterises the working of parliamentary standing committees of Jatiyo Shangshad in respect of their oversight function is that decisions in Committees are largely unanimous. In a few cases where unanimity could not be achieved decisions and recommendations were taken on the basis of consensus. Minutes of committee meetings bear testimony to this statement. Unanimity and consensus is however limited to committees performing oversight functions only. Instances of disagreement in committees examining bills referred to them are not rare.

(Source: www.parliamentofbangladesh.org )

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