The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (), or BELA (বেলা), is a nonprofit legal organization established in 1992 to assist efforts to protect the environment. In 2003, it was placed on the 'Global 500 Roll of Honour' of the

United Nations Environmental Program The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

(UNEP).''The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association to Receive United Nations Environment Award'', Press Release, [http://www.unep.org/ UNEP
United Nations Environmental Programme (UN); May 2003. BELA was awarded the prestigious ''"Poribesh Puroshkar"'' (পরিবেশ পুরস্কার), or 'Environmental Prize', of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladeshi">UNEP">''The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association to Receive United Nations Environment Award'', Press Release

government in 2007 and the joint winner of the Tang Prize">UNEP
United Nations Environmental Programme (UN); May 2003. BELA was awarded the prestigious ''"Poribesh Puroshkar"'' (পরিবেশ পুরস্কার), or 'Environmental Prize', of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladeshi
government in 2007 and the joint winner of the Tang Prize
in Rule of Law in 2020.

Organization

Bangladeshi lawyer Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque established BELA in 1992 and was the first Chief Executive of the organization. From the very beginning BELA monitored compliance with Bangladesh's environmental Laws, took initiatives to increase environmental awareness and sought to ensure the development of proper environmental jurisprudence. BELA faced a serious shock after the death of Dr. Farooque in 1997 and a member of BELA, advocate Ms. Rizwana Hasan took over the direction of BELA.

Notable tasks

In 1994, election candidates for the Dhaka City Corporation were unlawfully campaigning in

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

in violation of the 1860s Environmental Law of Bangladesh. Rizwana Hasan brought suit in court and the Court judged it an unlawful act. Thereafter,

Bangladesh Election Commission The Bangladesh Election Commission (), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is a government controlled constitutional body that operates the Law, legal functions of election laws in Bangladesh. Article 118 of the Constitution of Bangla ...

(EC) took initiatives to stop election campaigning that is harmful to the environment. Under the supervision of Rizwana Hasan, BELA started its war against the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh. On behalf of BELA, Rizwana brought the first suit against the shipbreaking industry, accusing it of creating an unsafe work environment and producing environmentally unsafe waste. Bela then brought another three suits demanding rights for the workers and the banning in Bangladesh of ships carrying poisonous substances. And in 2003 the court ruled that no ship will be allowed for shipbreaking without 'Environmental Clearance'. BELA also took other initiatives where the environment is under threat, including housing covering wetlands, unnecessary usage of polythene, cutting of hills, deforestation, shrimp cultivation, and unlawful construction in

St. Martin's Island Saint Martin's Island () is a small coral island in the north-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forms the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It has an area of only 3 ...

. In recent days, BELA opened a regular section in their headquarters where they receive legal complaints regarding the environment. BELA also sought judicial compensation from Naiko after the ''Tengratila Exploitation" in 2006.''Bangladeshe Naiko'r Biruddhe Durniti'r Protighat''
, Mohammad Ali Bokhari; Bengali Times; Toronto, Published from Canada.

Publications

BELA published many books on Environmental Preservation and Law Enforcement for Environment. Some of the notables are: * ''Laws Regulating Environment in Bangladesh'' * ''Law & Custom Forest in Bangladesh: Issues & Remedies'' * ''Environmental Regulatory Regime'' * ''Judicial Decisions on Environment in South Asia'' * ''Trans-boundary Water Issues in South Asia'' * ''International Rivers: Rights of the Riparian States'' * ''River Pollution Concerns and Expectations'' * ''The Role of Wildlife Preservation Act of Forest, Forest Dwellers'' * ''International Law in Environment'' Beside that, BELA published ''"BELA Newsletter"'' in English and ''"Bela Barta"'' (''বেলা বার্তা'') in Bangla, two weekly supplements of their recent activities and timeline.

Awards

BELA achieved the 'Global 500 Roll of Honour' under

(UNEP) in 2003. BELA, along with Dejusticia: The Center for Law, Justice and Society from Colombia and The Legal Agenda from Lebanon are joint winners of the 2020

Tang Prize The Tang Prize ( zh, c=唐獎) is a set of Taiwanese biennial international awards bestowed in four fields: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Nomination and selection are conducted by an independent se ...

in Rule of Law.

References

External links