The silent crisis of tort law in Bangladesh

Although tort law has great potential to ensure accountability and remedy for quotidian civil wrongs, it is largely disregarded and neglected in Bangladesh. The result of such neglect has slowly yet surely become a crisis, siphoning the rule of law and restricting the access to justice for the masses. Thousands of incidents such as road accidents, unsafe workplace conditions, environmental pollution, and institutional negligence remain without civil remedies. Victims are either unaware of their right to compensation or face difficult legal and procedural hurdles if and when they intend to claim the same.

Several factors contribute to this crisis in Bangladesh. First, unlike many other jurisdictions, Bangladesh does not have a codified tort legislation. By and large, this body of law relies on rules of common law from the British colonial period. These rules are scattered across court judgments and patchwork of statutes and are therefore inaccessible to most practitioners, let alone the public. Lacking clear legal rules, the courts struggle to handle tort cases, and judges do not wish to leave binding precedents either.

In addition, Bangladeshi legal education does not accord adequate significance to the laws of tort. Tort is normally taught as a secondary theoretical subject in most law schools, divorced from practice. Young lawyers graduate with little or no knowledge about how to litigate tort cases.

Tort law guarantees justice for the voiceless, the victims, and the wronged. However, in Bangladesh, it is mired in silence — neither used in courtrooms nor discussed in policymaking circles.

Additionally, there remains in-built inertia within our institutions as well. The family and property cases already clog the civil courts. There are no tort benches, nor any procedural innovations to accelerate or make tort litigations cheaper. Finally, public awareness is pitifully low. Most citizens are unaware that they can claim damages for the negligent behavior of drivers, faulty products, sloppy doctors, and rogue officials. In the absence of legal literacy campaigns and affordable legal assistance, tort law remains in lofty legal textbooks, divorced from day-to-day legal battles.

The lack of an effective regime of tort law has serious social consequences. Victims have to bear the economic and emotional costs of harm caused to them by others. Hospitals can get away with malpractice suits. Factories have the freedom to pollute rivers without fear of litigation. Institutions can indulge in overt negligence without being held responsible for civil damages. In such context, accountability diminishes, and the people lose faith in the legal system as a whole. This gap is particularly tragic in low-income and rural areas, where tortious harms continue to destroy lives and livelihoods. A small injury resulting from an out-of-control construction site or tainted water supply can leave a family destitute, with no recourse to law.

Tort law guarantees justice for the voiceless, the victims, and the wronged. However, in Bangladesh, it is mired in silence — neither used in courtrooms nor discussed in policymaking circles. If justice is to be more than an empty constitutional slogan, the state must awaken to this long-forgotten crisis. Bangladesh may start by passing an exhaustive Tort Law Act laying down wrongs, liabilities, and procedures specific to the social and legal milieu of Bangladesh. Strengthening tort law will not only protect individual rights but also foster a culture of responsibility and civic obligation, two essential ingredients for any democratic society.

The writer is law student at the University of London, freelance contributor and social worker.