Magistrate:

Magistrate is a civil officer that has power to administer and enforce the law. He has limited judicial
authority.

Executive Magistrate and Judicial Magistrate -

Basically there are two kinds of magistrates : Judicial Magistrates and Executive Magistrates. Judicial
Magistrates try all types of criminal cases while Executive Magistrate is an officer of the Executive
Branch.

According to section 6(2)

There shall be two classes of Magistrate, namely: -

(a) Judicial Magistrate; and

(b) Executive Magistrate.

Judicial Magistrate -
There are four classes of judicial Magistrate, namely:

(a) Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Metropolitan Area and Chief judicial Magistrate to other areas

(b) Magistrate of the first class, who shall in Metropolitan area, is known as Metropolitan Magistrate

(c) Magistrate of the second class

(d) Magistrate of the third class

Executive Magistrate -
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.

According to the section-10(6)of the Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPC)1898, members of Bangladesh

Civil Service(Administration) Cadre, who are in the capacity of Assistant Commissioner, Upozila Nirbahi
Officer(UNO), and Additional Deputy Commissioner(ADC) shall be Executive Magistrates and may
exercise the power of Executive Magistrate within their existing respective local areas. Besides this,
according to the provision of the section-10(5) of CrPC,1898; The Government may, if it thinks it
expedient or necessary, appoint any persons employed in the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration)
to be an Executive Magistrate and confer the powers of an Executive Magistrate on any such member.

Every Administrative District has the following Executive Magistrates:

(a) District Magistrate: In every district and in every Metropolitan Area, 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.

(b) Additional District Magistrate (ADM): The Government may also appoint any Executive Magistrate to
be an Additional District Magistrate. Additional District Magistrates shall have all or any of the powers of
a District Magistrate under this Code or under any other law for the time being in force, as the
Government may direct.

(c) Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC): All the ADC's in the district are Executive Magistrate.

(d) Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Sub-District Executive Officer

(e) Assistant Commissioner; including Senior Assistant Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner (Land)

Power and function of executive magistrate -

Executive Magistrates have been vested power under various sections of the Code of Criminal
Procedure (CrPC),1898; Penal Code,1860; Police Regulation,1943 and many others Criminal Acts.
Executive Magistrates of Bangladesh are empowered to conduct Mobile Court (Section-5; The Mobile
Court Act, 2009) for controlling law and order situation and for ensuring social justice by curving various
social problems like food adulteration, eve teasing, narcotics controlling and eviction against illegal
occupation of government property.

Ordinary Powers and functions of Executive Magistrate -

According to the provisions of Schedule-iii of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1898; Ordinary Powers of
Executive Magistrate are-

1. Power to arrest, or to direct the arrest of and to commit to custody, a person committing an offence
in presence of the Magistrate.(Section-64)
2. Power to arrest, or to direct the arrest in his presence of a person for whose arrest he can issue
warrant.(Section-65)

3. Power to endorse a warrant or to order the removal of an accused person arrested under a warrant
section.(Section-83,84,86)

4. Power to cause search by postal and telegraph authority for documents etc. and to detain
them.(Section-95)

5. Power to issue search warrant for discovery of persons wrongfully confined.(Section-100)

6. Power to direct search, in his presence of any place for the search of which he can issue search-
warrant.(Section-105)

7. Power to require security to keep peace(Section-107).

8. Power to require Security for good behaviour from vagrants and suspected persons (Section-109)

9. Power to require Security for good behaviour from habitual offenders(Section-110)

10. Power to Discharge of sureties(Section-126)

11.Power to command unlawful Assembly to disperse(Section-127)

12.Power to Use of civil force to disperse(Section-128)

13.Power to require military force to be used to disperse unlawful Assembly(Section-130)

14.Power to make orders as to local nuisance(Section-133)

15.Power to issue injunction as immediate measure, in case of public nuisance(Section-142)

District Magistrate -
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.

The term District Magistrate is used in the Criminal procedure code to denote the principal executive
magistrate of the district. However, after 1960, the district magistrate term came to be redesignated
throughout the country as Deputy Commissioner or DC. During the early year, before Bangladesh era,
the deputy commissioner's office used to be concerned with internal security and revenue
administration. Over the time, however, the office has become increasingly occupied with the general
welfare of the people in the district. The Deputy Commissioner is a representative of the Government in
the field of law and order, land administration, disaster management and general and local elections.
The deputy commissioner works under the general guidance and supervision of the Divisional
Commissioner. They are under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division although their posting
and transfer are made by the Ministry of Public Administration. The deputy commissioners are drawn
from the members of the Bangladesh Civil Service Administration.

Ordinary Powers and functions of District Magistrate -

The ordinary powers of an Executive Magistrate are:

1. Power to define local areas within which an Executive Magistrate may exercise his power(Section-
10.4)

2. Power to require delivery of letters, telegrams etc.(Section-95.1)

3. Power to issue search warrant for documents in custody of postal or telegraph authority. (Section-96)

4. Power to require Security for good behaviour from persons disseminating seditious matter(Section-
108)

5. Power to discharge persons bound to keep peace or to be of good behaviour(Section-124)

6. Power to cancel any bond for keeping the peach or good behaviour(Section-125)

7. Power to prohibit repetition or continuance of public nuisance(Section-143)

8. Power to ORDERS IN URGENT CASES OF NUISANCE OR APPREHENDED DANGER.(Section-144)

9. Power to make orders etc. in possession cases(Section-147)

10. Power to depute any Executive Magistrate subordinate to him to make the local inquiry,(Section-
148)

11. Power to hold inquests sections(Section-174)

12. Power to order preliminary investigation by a police-officer not being below the rank of Sub-
Inspector in certain cases(Section-196B)

13. Power to Power to appoint Public Prosecutors(Section-192.2)

14. Power to OF COMMISSIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES(Section-503-506)

15. Power to revision of, orders under section 514(Section-515)

16. Power to deal with and dispose of certain properties(Section-518)

17. Power to withdraw and recall cases(Section-528.2)

18. Power to compel restoration of abducted female(Section-552)

Upazila nirbahi officer

In Bangladesh the Upazila Nirbahi Officer often abbreviated UNO, is the chief executive of an upazila
(sub-district) and a mid-level officer of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration Cadre). A Senior
Assistant Secretary is usually assigned to this post.

The role of the UNO was created in accordance with a decision by the military regime of Lieutenant
General Hussain Muhammad Ershad.[1] In 1982, the Ershad government constituted a committee for
administrative reorganization and reform. One of the committee's major recommendations was to
create a representative body called Upazila Porishod (council) under a directly elected chair. The
government created the position of Thana Nirbahi Officer or TNO (thana executive officer) later
renaming it Upazila Nirbhahi Officer (UNO)—in each of the existing thanas (later upgraded and renamed
upazila) outside the metropolitan areas.

About the same time subdivisions were upgraded and converted into districts, responsibility for all
development activities at the local level was transferred to the Upazila Porishads. It was also decided
that the UNO should continue to chair the Upazila Porishads until an elected chair took office.

UNOs were normally posted from among the officers ranked as "Senior Assistant Secretary" of the BCS
Administration cadre.

Power and functions of UNO

1. assisting the chair in supervising administrative/development work and in preparing an upazila
development plan;

2. exercising powers under section 144 of criminal procedure code, sitting in court to take cognizance of
cases, hearing bail matters, granting adjournment, etc., when the upazila magistrate is unable to attend
the court;

3. initiating the annual confidential reports (ACR) of Assistant Commissioner (land);

4. aiding relief work following natural disasters and receive food and other materials for distribution
under the direction of the upazila parishad/chair;

5. supervising and controlling revenue and budget administration;

6. ensuring the observance of all government directives on upazila administration;

7. coordinating all upazila level training activities;

8. granting casual leave and countersigning the traveling allowance bills of the heads of all functional
departments except munsiff;

9. acting as drawing and disbursing officer in respect of officers and staff working directly under him;

10. supervising activities of the officers and staff working under him;

enforcing protocol

11. other functions that are entrusted to him by the government or the upazila porishod/chair.

Assistant Commissioner -
Assistant Commissioner in Bangladesh is the entry level post of field administration of the
Administrative Service of Bangladesh. It is also the entry level rank of the officer of Customs, Excise and
VAT. The equivalent rank for the police is Assistant Superintendent of Police. To join as an Assistant
Commissioner, a person has to pass three phases of the Bangladesh Civil Service exam, and get
recommendation form the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, a constitutional body of Bangladesh.
An Assistant Commissioner of the administration also acts as an Executive Magistrate and can exercise
vast executive and limited judicial power in their respective jurisdiction.