Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) jointly organised a Dialogue on “Promoting a Multistakeholder Approach to Support Criminal Justice Reform in Bangladesh to Enhance Equal Access to Justice for All” on 26 June 2025 in Dhaka. The event brought together around 120 distinguished participants from relevant stakeholders. H E Dr Asif Nazrul, Honourable Adviser, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, graced the dialogue as the Chief Guest. Mr Md Asaduzzaman, Attorney General of Bangladesh, was present as the Special Guest in the programme. Dr Suruchi Pant, UNODC Deputy Regional Representative, South Asia (Online) delivered the opening remarks virtually while the aims and objectives of the dialogue were presented by Mr Felipe Ramos, UNODC Head of Office, Bangladesh. Major General Iftekhar Anis, BSP, awc, afwc, psc, PEng, Director General, BIISS, chaired the inaugural session.
There were three roundtable sessions in the dialogue. The first roundtable was on “Strengthening access to legal aid services to those detained, arrested or imprisoned, suspected or accused of, or charged with a criminal offence and for victims and witnesses” which was moderated by Mr Tanim Hussain Shawon, Barrister-at-Law, Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court, and Member, Judiciary Reform Commission. Ms. Anna Giudice, Team Leader, Access to Justice, UNODC Headquarter Vienna, delivered as an expert from UNODC. Mr Christopher Decker, UNDP Expert on Digitalization in Judiciary spoke as international expert. Another international expert Mr Nicolas Laino, former UNODC Consultant spoke virtually. Barrister Sara Hossain, Executive Director, BLAST was present as national expert.
The second roundtable on “Supporting the establishment of impartial, professional and accountable public prosecution service” was moderated by Ms Romana Schweiger, Senior Rule of Law, Justice and Security Advisor, UNDP Bangladesh. In this session also, Ms. Anna Giudice, Team Leader, Access to Justice, UNODC Headquarter Vienna, delivered as an expert from UNODC. Dr Aminul Islam (national expert), Deputy Solicitor (Writ – 1), Solicitor Wing, Law and Justice Division, MoLJPA was present as national expert and Mr Madhawa Tennakoon, Deputy Solicitor General of the Attorney General’s Department, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, was present as international expert. Ms. Anna Giudice, Team Leader, Access to Justice, UNODC Headquarter Vienna, delivered as an expert from UNODC.
The third roundtable titled “Strengthening police-prosecution cooperation for more efficient, human-rights based investigations” was moderated by Major General Iftekhar Anis, BSP, awc, afwc, psc, PEng, Director General, BIISS. In this session, Mr Edwin Cantu, Access to Justice specialist, UNODC Headquarter Vienna was present as UNODC Expert while Mr Patrick Stevens from the International Association of Prosecutors joined virtually as international expert. Mr Md Tareq Jubayer, Deputy Police Commissioner (Criminal Intelligence and Prosecution), Dhaka Metropolitan Police spoke as the national expert. Closing remarks was provided virtually by Ms. Anubha Sood, UNODC Regional Representative, South Asia.
Each roundtable was followed by a vibrant and engaging question-and-answer session. The Dialogue was participated by representatives from a wide range of relevant organisations, which included various ministries of the Bangladesh government, Judicial Reform Commission, Attorney General’s Office, Judicial Administration Training Institute (JATI), Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association, Dhaka BAR Association, the Bangladesh Police and its affiliated departments, branches and units, the UN resident coordinator office and other UN organisations, NGOs, academia and development partners.