"The laws of labor are also made based on the constitution"-illustrate and explain

Constitution is one of the fundamental things of a country. Without a constitution, a country could not exist. Constitution is the basic rules and regulation of a country. The laws of a country are made based on the constitution. There would not be any law which is not proper matched with the constitution. The reward and punishment given by the law are also based on the constitution. As an example can we say about the countries like Switzerland where death sentence is not authorized by the constitution? So, there is the worst punishment is prison for hole life. Again, we can say about India; in that country the death sentence is still existed. Because,that is not contradictory with the constitution.

According to other things, the laws of labor are also made based on the constitution. According to that that, we can say about the child labor in some countries is totally banned. The child labor is totally against the constitution of these countries .So, according to that, the child labor is banned in that country.

Like other countries of the world, Bangladesh has also a constitution. The constitution of Bangladesh is well described. All laws, rewards and punishment of Bangladesh are made based on the constitution of Bangladesh. According to the constitution of Bangladesh, any kind of forced labor is totally prohibited and if anyone has done that, there are some punishments for that person. That law is strongly maintained by the citizens; but, sometimes that law would not maintained in a proper way.

What is a constitution?

According to dictionary, a constitution is a set of elementary principles or ascertained precedents according to which a country, state or other organization is directed.[1]

On other terms we can say, a constitution is the summation of the basic law of a state which sets out how that state will be organized, the powers and authorities of government between diverse political units, and by stating and the basic principles of the society.

The constitution is referred to as the “#1 law of the land”; to which all of government, citizens, corporate persons and other laws must defer in the event of any conflict.[2]

There are two forms of constitutions; one is written another is not written. It is not necessary that all constitutions should be written. It could be based on the aged customs and conventions.

As an example of written constitution we can say about the constitution of USA, Canada, and Bangladesh and for unwritten constitutions we can say about the constitution of England .[3]

Constitution of Bangladesh:

The Constitution of Bangladesh is the ultimate law of Bangladesh. It asserts Bangladesh as a secular democratic republic where sovereignty belongs to the citizens of Bangladesh and lays down the outline defining primary political principles of the state and spells out the basic rights of citizens. Passed by the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh on November 4, 1972, it came into effect from December 16, 1972, the victory day of Bangladesh when the nation defeated the Pakistani army in 1971 and Bangladesh became independent.[4]

The constitution states nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularity as the elementary principles of the Bangladeshi republic. When approved in 1972, it was one of the most liberal constitutions of the time.

As per the constitution of the republic it comprises three basic organs:

Legislative Branch
Executive Branch
Judicial Branch

The constitution of Bangladesh is divided into 11 parts, which are further subdivided into 153 articles. In addition, there are 4 schedules.

As of 2011^[update] the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times.[5]

The characteristic of constitution of Bangladesh:

The main characteristics of Bangladesh constitution are as follows:-

1. The constitution is a written paper.

2. “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim” is written in its preamble.

3. Some basic principles have been included for conducting the state.

4. There is a long list of basic Rights in the constitution. These rights are vital for the development of personality and personal freedom. For the protection of these rights there is also assurance in the constitution. .

5.. Bangladesh has been declared a Republic.

6.. Parliamentary democratic system has been initiated.

8.. The name of the legislature is National Assembly.

9. The constitution is rigid

10. The constitution is the Supreme Law of the country.

These are the main characteristics of the constitution. From these characteristics it is understood that the constitution of Bangladesh is a clear and excellent one. [6]

The forced labor:The forced labor is not a phenomenon. Now, it becomes common word. We can say forced labor as slavery. The forced labor has existed for generation to generation. But, now there is upward consensus that the numbers of forced labor is raised. The definition of forced labor is not very easy; there are a lot things has came through the definition of forced labor. It is not easy to describe as a sentence or few words.

About the definition of force labor, we can say that, the force labor is that kind of labor which people has done by any kind of force or threat.

The ILO defines the forced law as a work or service exacted from a person under threat of penalty, which includes the penal sanctions and the loss of rights and other privileges, where the person has not offered him/herself voluntarily. Definition in law cannot be able to capture complex things on the ground by that how a person’s right is denied by a forced labor.[7]

The main feature of the forced labor which highlighted in media is the human trafficking. By human trafficking, a person is forced to do various kinds of works as child labor, prostitution in another country. This could be best example of forced labor.

The forced labor is strictly prohibited in many countries of the world. [8]Actually, the forced labor is the violation of fundamental rights of a human being. As a human being, a person has right to live his or her own life, he or she wants to do job accordingly their wishes. But, forced law denied the all thing. It turns a human being to an animal.

The constitution of Bangladesh and the forced labor:The forced labor is strongly prohibited in Bangladesh according to the constitution. The prohibition of forced labor is well described in the constitution of Bangladesh. 34 number of article in the constitution.

34^th article of the constitution:

Prohibition of forced labor:

(1) All forms of forced labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

(2) Nothing this in article shall apply to compulsory labor

(a) By person undergoing lawful punishment for a criminal offence; or required by any law for public purpose.[9]

The forced labor is against the personal liberty and right.. The constitution of Bangladesh is totally against of that kind of behavior. There is a part of constitution which indicates that thing strongly

In one of the articles article of the constitution said about the protection of right and personal liberty.

32^ndarticle:

No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty saves in accordance with law.[10]

That part ensures the personal liberty and right which is exactly against the forced law.

The law and forced labor in Bangladesh:

Labor law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and limitation on, working people and their organizations.

According to the other countries, the labor law system of Bangladesh is old more than the 100 years. The labor law system of Bangladesh is standard. The any kind of forced labor is strongly prohibited according to the laws of labor of Bangladesh.

The child labor and prostitution are the most common forms of the forced law in the Bangladesh.

In a feature of the BIL, we can see the child labor is strictly prohibited.[11]The feature says that, No children (under 14 years of age) are not allowed to occupation or establishment.

.The government of Bangladesh passed “Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006” on October 11, 2006 repealing 25 important Labor Laws. In the Section 34, Chapter III restricts employment or permission of any child aged less than 14 years of age to work in any occupation or establishment. It also restricts employment or permission of any adolescent, who has completed his or her fourteenth year but has not completed eighteen year of age, for any hazardous work.[12]

For forced prostitution, there are some well-built laws which restrict the forced prostitution in the country.

Various provisions of different kind of laws prohibit child prostitution and forced prostitution:

“

Section 364A – Whoever, kidnaps or abducts any person under the age of ten, in order that such a person may be or subjected to slavery or to the lust of any person shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life or for rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 14 years and may not be less than 7 years.

”

“

Section 366A – Whoever, by any means whatsoever, induces any minor girl under the age of eighteen years to go from any place or to do any act with the intent that such a girl may be or knowing that it is likely that she will be, forded or seduced to illicit intercourse with another person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine.

”

“Section 373 – Whoever buys, hires or otherwise obtains possession of any person under the age of eighteen years with the intent that such person shall at any age be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or knowing it likely that such person will at any age be employed or used for such purpose with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend 10 years and fine. Any prostitute or any person keeping or managing a brothel, who buys, hires or otherwise obtains possession of a female under the age of 18 years, shall until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have obtained possession of such female with the intent that she shall be used for the purpose of prostitution.[13]

Although, the government of Bangladesh has also signed in the various convention of ILO.

These conventions also declared the forced labor as a strictly prohibited event. As an example we can say about the convention of 105, convention of 182 etc.[14]

Violation of law:

There are some good laws to prohibit the forced labor in Bangladesh. But, sometimes, the violation of law has happened. As example we can say about the human trafficking and forced prostitution. There were several violations of that laws which have published in newspapers. Some violations were hidden or secret.[15]

Conclusion and Recommendation:

The forced labor is a threat for person’s liberty and right. It makes a person to an animal. It is against of humanity. There are sufficient laws against that kind of crimes. But, only law could not reduce that.

For reducing that, the citizen should come forward. The consciousness should be raised among the citizen. They should stand against it. If it happened, that would be a better prevent for that kind of social sickness.

The recommendations are given bellow: