The Bangladesh Law Officers Order, 1972 (President's Order)

WHEREAS it is expedient to appoint some law officers for conducting cases on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh before the superior Courts in Bangladesh;

Act No. PRESIDENT'S ORDER NO. 6 OF 1972

Date: 20th January, 1972

WHEREAS it is expedient to appoint some law officers for conducting cases on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh before the superior Courts in Bangladesh; NOW, THEREFORE, in pursuance of the Proclamation of Independence read with the Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order, 1972, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the President is pleased to make the following Order:-

(1) This Order may be called the Bangladesh Law Officers Order, 1972.

(2) It extends to the whole of Bangladesh.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

In this Order, “Law Officer” means the Attorney-General for Bangladesh, the Additional Attorney-General for Bangladesh, the Deputy Attorney-General, and Assistant Attorney-General for Bangladesh ¹ *.

²(1) The President may, in addition to the Attorney-General for Bangladesh, appoint, by notification in the official Gazette, Additional Attorneys-General, not exceeding three, and such number of Deputy Attorneys-General and Assistant Attorneys-General for Bangladesh as the President may determine.

(2) No person shall be appointed an ³ Additional Attorney-General or a Deputy Attorney-General ⁴

unless he is qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the ⁵Supreme Court of Bangladesh ⁶:

Provided that while making the appointment, the President may consider relaxing the age-limit of an Additional Attorney-General or a Deputy Attorney-General, as the case may be, if he is found fit and efficient.

(3) No person shall be appointed an Assistant Attorney-General ⁷ * unless he has completed ⁸five years' practice as an Advocate of the ⁹Supreme Court.

(4) ¹⁰ * ¹¹Additional Attorneys-General, ¹²Deputy Attorneys-General and Assistant Attorneys-General shall perform such duties as the President may direct.

(5) In the performance of their duties ¹³ * ¹⁴the Additional Attorneys-General, ¹⁵and the Deputy Attorneys-General shall have the right to audience in all Courts in Bangladesh.

(1) A Law Officer shall hold office during the pleasure of the President and ¹⁶his services may be terminated at any time by the President without any reason being assigned for his ¹⁷termination.

(2) A Law Officer may resign his office by a writing under his hand addressed to the President.

¹⁸(3) A Law Officer shall receive such remuneration for his services and shall be entitled to such privileges as the President may determine.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force on the commencement of this Order, the office of the Additional Attorney–General, Advocate-General, Assistant Advocate-General, the Senior Government Pleader, Assistant Government Pleader, and the Deputy Legal Remembrancer in Bangladesh shall be deemed to have stood abolished on the 26th day of March, 1971.

(2) The Office of ¹⁹a Law Officer shall be deemed not to be ²⁰an office of profit nor shall “service of Bangladesh” mean or include the office of ²¹a Law Officer.

Footnotes

1.The words and comma “and includes the Advocate-General for Bangladesh, a Deputy Advocate-General and an Assistant Advocate-General for Bangladesh” were omitted by section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

2.Clause (1) was substituted by section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Act, 2001 (Act No. LIX of 2001)

3.The words “Attorney-General” were omitted by Article 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Order, 1972 (President’s Order No. 152 of 1972)

4.The words “or a Deputy Advocate-General” were omitted by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

5.The words “Supreme Court” were substituted for the words “High Court” by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

6.The colon (:) was substituted for the full stop (.) and thereafter the proviso was inserted by section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 (Ordinance No. XVII of 2024) (With effect from 10th August 2024). (See: Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024)

7.The words “or an Assistant Advocate-General” were omitted by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

8.The word “five” was substituted for the word “seven” by Article 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Order, 1972 (President’s Order No. 152 of 1972)

9.The words “Supreme Court” were substituted for the words “High Court” by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

10.The words and comma “The Attorney-General,” were omitted by Article 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Order, 1972 (President’s Order No. 152 of 1972)

11.The words “Additional Attorneys-General” were substituted for the words “Additional Attorney-General” by section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Act, 2001 (Act No. LIX of 2001)

12.The words “Deputy Attorneys-General and Assistant Attorneys-General” were substituted for the words and comma “Deputy Attorney-General, Deputy Advocates-General, Assistant Attorneys-General and Assistant Advocates-General” by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

13.The words and comma “the Attorney-General,” were omitted by Article 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Order, 1972 (President’s Order No. 152 of 1972)

14.The words “the Additional Attorneys-General” were substituted for the words “the Additional Attorney-General” by section 2 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Act, 2001 (Act No. LIX of 2001)

15.The words “and the Deputy Attorneys-General” were substituted for the comma and words “, the Deputy Attorneys-General and the Deputy Advocates-General” by section 3 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

16.The words “his services may be terminated” were substituted for the words “may be removed from office” by section 4 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

17.The word “termination” was substituted for the word “removal” by section 4 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

18.Clause (3) was substituted by section 4 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

19.The words “a Law Officer” were substituted for the words “the Attorney-General and the Additional Attorney-General” by section 5 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

20.The words “an office” were substituted for the word “offices” by section 5 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)

21.The words “a Law Officer” were substituted for the words “the Attorney-General and the Additional Attorney-General” by section 5 of the Bangladesh Law Officers (Amendment) Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XXXIV of 1978)