The Desirability of Application of the Basic Structure Doctrine in Bangladesh: An Introspection of Constitutional Amendments

Abstract

In Bangladesh, constitutional supremacy prevails by virtue of article 7 and parliament’s constitution amending power is restricted by both precedent and constitutional provision i.e. article 7B. Previously the judiciary of Bangladesh affirmed the doctrine of basic structure as a limitation on the parliament’s power to amend the constitution. But it has been categorically expressed in article 7B which is incorporated in the constitution after the fifteenth-amendment in 2011 that basic structures of the constitution are inviolable. The desirability to use basic structure as a limitation on the amendment power of the constitution by the parliament is well established in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is perhaps the only country in whose constitution it is categorically stated that the basic structure of the constitution cannot be amended. The basic structure doctrine in Bangladesh is not only a judicial precedent but also a constitutional rule.