The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers. In other parts of the world, such as China, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions, magistrates may be volunteers without formal legal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters.
Judiciary of Malaysia is largely centralised despite Malaysia's federal constitution, heavily influenced by the English common law and to a lesser extent Islamic law.
A Sessions Court is a lesser court of law which exists in several democratic countries, including Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and the United States of America. The session court is the highest criminal court in the district.
The District Courts of India are the district courts of the State governments in India for every district or for one or more districts together taking into account the number of cases, population distribution in the district. They administer justice in India at a district level.
The judiciary of Pakistan is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior judiciary and the subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. There is a High Court for each of the four provinces as well as a High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory. The Constitution of Pakistan entrusts the superior judiciary with the obligation to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court may exercise jurisdiction in relation to Tribal Areas, except otherwise provided for. The disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan have separate court systems.
Human rights in Bangladesh are enshrined as fundamental rights in Part III of the Constitution of Bangladesh. However, constitutional and legal experts believe many of the country's laws require reform to enforce fundamental rights and reflect democratic values of the 21st century. Proposed reforms include strengthening parliamentary supremacy, judicial independence, the separation of powers, repealing laws which restrain freedom of the press and disbanding security agencies which violate civil liberties.
Bangladesh is part of the common law jurisdiction. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The legal system of Bangladesh has its roots in the laws of British India. Since independence in 1971, statutory law enacted by the Parliament of Bangladesh has been the primary form of legislation. Judge made law continues to be significant in areas such as constitutional law. Unlike in other common law countries, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has the power to not only interpret laws made by the parliament, but to also declare them null and void and to enforce fundamental rights of the citizens. The Bangladesh Code includes a compilation of all laws since 1836. The vast majority of Bangladeshi laws are in English. But most laws adopted after 1987 are in Bengali. Family law is intertwined with religious law. Bangladesh has significant international law obligations.
The Code of Criminal Procedure is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. Additionally, it also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents.
Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class are at the lowest hierarchy of the Criminal Court structure in India. According to the Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPc), a Court of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class may be established by the State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at such places in the district and in any number by a notification.
Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class are at the second lowest level of the Criminal Court structure in India. According to the Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPc), a Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class may be established by the State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at such places in the district and in any number by a notification.
Courts of Metropolitan Magistrate are at the second lowest level of the Criminal Court structure in India According to the Section 16 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPc), a Court of Magistrate may be established by the State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at such places in every metropolitan area having population of ten lakh or more. It has jurisdiction throughout such metropolitan area.
Executive Magistrate is the Magistrate of the executive organ of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The members of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) i.e. Bangladesh Administrative Service are the Executive Magistrates. They usually exercise vast executive and limited judicial power in their respective jurisdiction.
The Judiciary of Bangladesh or Judicial system of Bangladesh is based on the Constitution and the laws are enacted by the legislature and interpreted by the higher courts. Bangladesh Supreme Court is the highest court of Bangladesh. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has been described in Article 94(1) of the Constitution of Bangladesh. It consists of two divisions, the High Court Division and the Appellate Division. These two divisions of the Supreme Court have separate jurisdictions.
The Bangladesh Administrative Service (BAS) is the premier civil service cadre of the Bangladesh Civil Service, and which formulates and executes policies for the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh of which it is an inseparable part.
The Bangladesh Supreme Court, Appellate Division is the appellate court in Bangladesh. The Appellate Division is the first level appellate court, with appellate review authority over final judgments of the High Court Division.
Metropolitan Session court is a type of Sessions Court which are situated in metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. These types courts are exclusively criminal court to deal with only criminal cases. Judges appointed to such courts do not hear or try any civil matter, unlike judges of session courts in districts. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Bangladesh), a Session Judge shall be established by the Government in each of metropolitan city. Initially, two types of courts, the Courts of Sessions and the Courts of Magistrates were recognized by the code. The code was amended in 1976 with the introduction of the metropolitan police and came to effect in 1979. This amended ordinance made it essential for the government to establish the separate metropolitan session courts for metropolitan areas. Currently, there five Metropolitan courts are in function in Bangladesh.
Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate is a chief administrative and revenue officer of a district or an administrative sub-unit of a division. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh, the Government shall appoint as many persons as it thinks fit to be Executive Magistrates and shall appoint one of them to be the District Magistrate.
Metropolitan Court is a different type of court found in the metropolitan city of Bangladesh. As per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1898, the constitution, procedure, forces and jurisdiction of this court are resolved. The Code of Criminal Procedure used to acknowledge two sorts of courts: the Sessions court and the Judge court.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court is a type of Metropolitan Magistrate Court which is found in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. These courts are presided by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate as per the Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh. These courts are under the control to the Metropolitan Session Judge Courts. The amended form of the Criminal Procedure Code gives the government the power to appoint a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and other magistrates in a metropolitan area. The provision of recruitment of one or more Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates is also directed.
