¹[6.(1) Besides the Supreme Court and the Courts constituted under any law for the time being in force, other than this Code, there shall be two classes of Criminal Courts in Bangladesh, namely:-(a) Courts of Sessions ; and (b) Courts of Magistrates. (2) There shall be two classes of Magistrate, namely: - (a) Judicial Magistrate; and (b) Executive Magistrate. (3) There shall be 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, be known as Metropolitan Magistrate; (c) Magistrate of the second class; and (d) Magistrate of the third class. Explanation: For the purpose of this sub-section, the word "Chief Metropolitan Magistrate" and "Chief judicial Magistrate" shall include "Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate" and "Additional Chief judicial Magistrate" respectively.]

7.(1) Bangladesh shall consist of sessions divisions: and every sessions division shall, for the purposes of this Code, be a district or consist of districts.

(2) The Government may alter the limits or the number of such divisions and districts.

. (3) The sessions divisions and districts existing when this Code comes into force shall be sessions divisions and districts respectively, unless and until they are so altered. ²[(4) ³[A] Metropolitan Area shall, for the purposes of this Code, be deemed to be a sessions division.]

⁴[8. The Government may divide a district into Upazilas and, by notification in the official Gazette, fix or alter the limits of a Upazila or merge the areas of more than one Upazila into one Upazila and in so fixing, altering or merging, the Government shall ensure that the area of a Upazila is identical with the local area included in a Police Station.]

(2) All existing sub-divisions which are now usually put under the charge of a Magistrate shall be deemed to have been made under this Code.

9.(1) The Government shall establish a Court of Session for every sessions division, and appoint a judge of such Court ⁵[; and the Court of Session for ⁶[a] Metropolitan Area shall be called the Metropolitan Court of Session.] (2) The Government may, by general or special order in the official Gazette, direct at what place or places the Court of Session shall hold its sitting; but, until such order is made, the Courts of Session shall hold their sittings as heretofore. (3) The Government may also appoint Additional Sessions Judges and Assistant Sessions Judges to exercise jurisdiction in one or more such Courts. ⁷[***]] ⁸[(3A) The members of the Bangladesh Judicial Service shall be appointed as Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judge and Joint Sessions Judge in accordance with the rules framed by the President under the proviso to Article 133 of the constitution to exercise jurisdiction in one or more of such areas.] (4) A Sessions Judge of one sessions division may be appointed by the Government to be also an Additional Sessions Judge of another division, and in such case he may sit for the disposal of cases at such place or places in either division as the Government may direct. (5) All Courts of Session existing when this Code comes into force shall be deemed to have been established under this Act.

⁹[10.(1) 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.(2) The Government may also appoint any Executive Magistrate to be an Additional District Magistrate, and such Additional District Magistrate 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. (3) Whenever in consequence of the office of a District Magistrate becoming vacant, any officer succeeds temporarily to the chief executive in the administration of the district, such officer shall, pending the orders of the Government, exercise all the powers and perform all the duties respectively conferred and imposed by this Code on the District Magistrate. (4) The Government may, or subject to the control of the Government, the District Magistrate may, from time to time, by order define local areas within which the Executive Magistrate may exercise all or any of the powers with which they may be invested under this Code and, except as otherwise provided by such definition, the jurisdiction and powers of every such Executive Magistrate shall extend throughout the district.(5) The Government may, if it thinks 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.(6) Subject to the definition of the local areas under sub-section (4) all persons appointed as Assistant Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners or Upazila Nirbahi Officer in any District or Upazila shall be Executive Magistrates and may exercise the power of Executive Magistrate within their existing respective local areas. (7) Nothing in this section shall preclude the Government from conferring, under any law for the time in force, on a Commissioner of Police, all or any of the powers of an executive Magistrate in relation to a Metropolitan area.]

¹⁰[11. (1) In every district outside a Metropolitan Area, the Chief Judicial Magistrates, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrates and other Judicial Magistrates shall be appointed from the persons employed in the Bangladesh Judicial service in accordance with the rules framed by the President under the proviso to Article 133 of the constitution. (2) An Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate shall have all or any of the powers of the Chief Judicial Magistrate under this Code or any other law for the time being in force, as the Government may direct.¹¹[(2A) The Government may, by general or special order in the official Gazette, direct at what place or places the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate and other Judicial Magistrates shall hold its sitting.] (3) The Government may, or subject to the general or special orders issued by the Government in consultation with the High Court Division, the Chief Judicial Magistrate may, from time to time, define local areas within which the Judicial Magistrates may exercise all or any of the powers with which they may be invested under this Code, and except as otherwise provided by such definition, the jurisdiction and powers of every such Magistrate shall extend throughout the district. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the Government may require any Executive Magistrate to perform the functions of a Judicial Magistrate for a period to be determined in consultation with the High Court Division and during such period, the Magistrate shall not perform the functions of an Executive Magistrate.]

¹²[12. (1) The Government may confer upon any person all or any of the powers conferred or conferrable by or under this Code on an Executive Magistrate in respect of particular cases or a particular class or classes of cases, or in regard to cases generally in any local area outside a Metropolitan area:Provided that no power shall be conferred under the sub-section on any police officer below the grade of an Assistant Superintendent of Police and no powers shall be conferred on a such police officer except so far as may be necessary for preserving the peace, preventing crime and detecting apprehending and detaining offenders, in order to bring the offender before a Magistrate, and for the performance by the officer of any other duties imposed upon him by any law for the time being in force.(2) The persons on whom the powers under sub-section (1) are conferred shall be called Special Executive Magistrates and shall be appointed for such term as the Government may by general or special order direct. (3) The Government may, in consultation with the High Court Division confer upon any Magistrate all or any of the powers conferred or conferrable by or under this Code on a Judicial Magistrate of the first, second or third class in respect of particular cases or a particular class or classes of cases or in regard to cases generally in any local area outside a Metropolitan area.(4) The Magistrate on whom the powers under sub-section (3) are conferred shall be called Special Magistrates and shall be appointed for such term as the Government may, in consultation with the High Court Division, by general or special order direct.(5) The Government may in consultation with the High Court Division confer upon any Metropolitan Magistrate all or any of the powers conferred or conferrable by or under this Code on Metropolitan Magistrate in respect of particular cases or a particular class or classes, or in regard to cases generally in any Metropolitan Area.(6) The persons on whom the powers under sub-section (5) are conferred shall be called Special Metropolitan Magistrates and shall be appointed for such term as the Government may in consultation with High Court Division by general or special order direct.]

15.(1) The Government may direct any two or more Magistrates in any place ¹³[outside ¹⁴[a] Metropolitan Area] to sit together as a Bench, and may by order invest such Bench with any of the powers conferred or conferrable by or under this Code on a Magistrate of the first, second or third class, and direct it to exercise such powers in such cases, or, such classes of cases only, and within such local limits, as the Government thinks fit.

(2) Except as otherwise provided by any order under this section, every such Bench shall have the powers conferred by this Code on a Magistrate of the highest class to which any one of its members, who is present taking part in the proceedings as a member of the Bench, belongs, and as far as practicable shall, for the purposes of this Code, be deemed to be a Magistrate of such class.

16. The Government may, or, subject to the control of the Government, the ¹⁵[Chief Judicial Magistrate] may, from time to time, make rules consistent with this Code for the guidance of Magistrates' Benches in any district respecting the following subjects:- (a) the classes of cases to be tried; (b) the times and places of sitting; (c) the constitution of the Bench for conducting trials; (d) the mode of settling differences of opinion which may arise between the Magistrates in session.

¹⁶[17. (1) All Executive Magistrate appointed under section 10 and 12 (1) shall be subordinate to the District Magistrate who, from time to time, give special order consistent with this Code as to the distribution of business among such Magistrates. (2) All Judicial Magistrates appointed under section 11 and 12 (3) and all Benches constituted under section 15 shall be subordinate to the Chief Judicial Magistrate who may, from time to time give special orders consistent with this Code and rules made by the Government under section 16 as to the distribution of business among Magistrates and Benches. (3) All Metropolitan Magistrates including Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, and Special Metropolitan Magistrate appointed under section 12 (5) and Benches constituted under section 19, shall be subordinate to the chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who may, from time to time, give special orders consistent with this Code and rules made by the Government under section 16 as to the distribution of business among such Magistrates and Benches. (4) All Judicial Magistrates including the Chief Judicial Magistrate shall be subordinate to the Sessions Judge and all Metropolitan Magistrates including the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate shall be subordinate to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge.

¹⁷[17A. (1) All Joint Sessions Judges shall be subordinate to the Sessions Judge in whose Court they exercise jurisdiction, and the Sessions Judge may, from time to time, make rules or give special orders consistent with this Code as the distribution of business among such joint Sessions Judges. (2)The Sessions Judge may also, when he himself is unavoidably absent or incapable of acting, make provision for the disposal of any urgent application by an Additional or Joint Sessions Judge and such Judge shall have jurisdiction to deal with any such application.]

18. ¹⁸[(1) In every Metropolitan Area, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and other Metropolitan Magistrates shall be appointed from among the persons employed in the Bangladesh judicial Service.] (2) The Government may appoint one or more Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates, and such Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates shall have all or any of the powers of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate under this Code or under any other law for the time being in force, as the Government may direct. ¹⁹[***]

19. Any two or more of Metropolitan Magistrates may, subject to the rules made by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, sit together as Bench.

20. Every Metropolitan Magistrate shall exercise juris-diction in all places within ²⁰[a] Metropolitan Area for which he is appointed.

21.(1) The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate shall exercise within the local limits of his jurisdiction all the powers ²¹[conferred on him or on a Metropolitan Magistrate under this Code, or under any law for the time being in force] and may, from time to time, with the previous sanction of the Government, make rules consistent with this Code to regulate- (a) the conduct and distribution of business and the practice in the Courts of Metropolitan Magistrates; (b) the constitution of Benches of Metropolitan Magistrates; (c) the times and places at which such Benches shall sit; (d) the mode of settling differences of opinion which may arise between Metropolitan Magistrates in session; and (e) any other matter which could be dealt with by a ²²[Chief Judicial Magistrate] under his general powers of control over the Magistrates subordinate to him. ²³[ *** ]

22. ²⁴[The Government] may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint such persons resident within Bangladesh and not being the subjects of any foreign State as it thinks fit to be Justices of the Peace within and for the local area mentioned in such notification.

23 and 24. [Repealed by section 4 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1923 (Act No. XII of 1923).]

25. In virtue of their respective offices, the Judges of the ²⁵[Supreme Court] are Justices of the Peace within and for of the whole of Bangladesh, Sessions Judges, ²⁶[Chief Judicial Magistrate] and Metropolitan Magistrates] are Justices of the Peace within ²⁷[their respective jurisdictions].

26 and 27. [Repealed by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.]

28. Subject to the other provisions of this Code any offence under the Penal Code may be tried- (a) by the High Court Division, or (b) by the Court of Session, or (c) by any other Court by which such offence is shown in the eighth column of the second schedule to be triable. Illustration A is ²⁸[tried by] the Sessions Court on a charge of culpable homicide. He may be convicted of voluntarily causing hurt, an offence triable by a Magistrate.

29.(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Code, any offence under any other law shall, when any Court is mentioned in this behalf in such law, be tried by such Court. (2) When no Court is so mentioned, it may be tried ²⁹[* * *] subject as aforesaid by any Court constituted under this Code by which such offence is shown in the eighth column of the second schedule to be triable.

29A. [Omitted by the Criminal Law (Extinction of Discriminatory Privileges) Act, 1949 (Act No. II of 1950).]

³⁰[29B. Any offence, other than one punishable with death or transportation for life, committed by any person who at the date when he appears or is brought before the Court is under the age of fifteen years, may be tried by ³¹[Chief Judicial Magistrate] ³²[or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate], or by any Magistrate specially empowered by the Government to exercise the powers conferred by ³³[or under any law] providing for the custody, trial or punishment of youthful offenders, by any Magistrate empowered by or under such law to exercise all or any of the powers conferred thereby.]

³⁴[29C. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 29, the Government may ³⁵[in consultation with the High Court Division]- (a) invest the ³⁶[Chief Metropolitan Magistrate,] ³⁷[Chief Judicial Magistrate or any Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate] with power to try as a Magistrate all offences not punishable with death; (b) invest ³⁸[Metropolition Magistrate or] any Magistrate of the first class with power to try as a Magistrate all offences not punishable with death or with transportation or with imprisonment for a term exceeding ten years.]

30. [Omitted by section 2 and Schedule of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XLIX of 1978).]

31.(1) ³⁹[The High Court Division] may pass any sentence authorized by law. (2) A Sessions Judge or Additional Sessions Judge may pass any sentence authorized by law; but any sentence of death passed by any such Judge shall be subject to confirmation by the High Court Division. (3) A ⁴⁰[Joint ] Sessions Judge may pass any sentence authorized by law, except a sentence of death or of transportation for a term exceeding ⁴¹[ten] years or of imprisonment for a term exceeding 2⁴²[ten] years. ⁴³[***]

32.(1) The Courts of Magistrates may pass the following sentences namely:- (a) Courts ⁴⁴[of Metropolitan Magistrates and] of Magistrates of the first class: Imprisonment for a term not exceeding ⁴⁵[five years], including such solitary confinement as is authorized by law; Fine not exceeding ⁴⁶[ten thousand taka]; Whipping. (b) Courts of Magistrates of the second class: Imprisonment for a term not exceeding ⁴⁷[three years], including such solitary confinement as is authorized by law; Fine not exceeding ⁴⁸[five thousand taka]; (c) Courts of Magistrates of the third class: Imprisonment for a term not exceeding ⁴⁹[two year]; Fine not exceeding ⁵⁰[two thousand taka]. (2) The Court of any Magistrate may pass any lawful sentence, combining any of the sentences which it is authorized by law to pass.

33.(1) The Court of any Magistrate may award such terms of imprisonment in default of payment of fine as is authorized by law in case of such default:

Provided that-(a) the term is not in excess of the Magistrate's powers under this Code;(b) in any case decided by a Magistrate where imprisonment has been awarded as part of the substantive sentence, the period of imprisonment awarded in default of payment of the fine shall not exceed one-fourth of the period of imprisonment which such Magistrate is competent to inflict as punishment for the offence otherwise than as imprisonment in default of payment of the fine. (2) The imprisonment awarded under this section may be in addition to a substantive sentence of imprisonment for the maximum term awardable by the Magistrate under section 32.

⁵¹[33A. The Court of a Magistrate, specially empowered under section 29C, may pass any sentence authorized by law, except a sentence of death or of transportation or imprisonment for a term exceeding seven years.]

34. [Omitted by section 2 and Schedule of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1978 (Ordinance No. XLIX of 1978).]

34A. [Omitted by Schedule of the Criminal Law (Extinction of Discriminatory Privileges) Act, 1949 (Act No. II of 1950).]

35.(1) When a person is convicted at one trial of two or more offences, the Court may, subject to the provisions of section 71 of the Penal Code sentence him, for such offences, to the several punishments prescribed therefor which such Court is competent to inflict; such punishments, when consisting of imprisonment or transportation to commence the one after the expiration of the other in such order as the Court may direct, unless the Court directs that such punishments shall run concurrently.

(2) In the case of consecutive sentences, it shall not be necessary for the Court, by reason only of the aggregate punishment for the several offences being in excess of the punishment which it is competent to inflict on conviction of a single offence, to send the offender for trial before a higher Court:

Provided as follows:-

(a) in no case shall such person be sentenced to imprisonment for a longer period than fourteen years;

(b) if the case is tried by a Magistrate ⁵²[* * *], the aggregate punishment shall not exceed twice the amount of punishment which he is, in the exercise of his ordinary jurisdiction, competent to inflict.

(3) For the purpose of appeal, the aggregate of consecutive sentences passed under this section in case of convictions for several offences at one trial shall be deemed to be a single sentence.

⁵³[35A.(1) Except in the case of an offence punishable only with death, when any court finds an accused guilty of an offence and, upon conviction, sentences such accused to any term of imprisonment, simple or rigorous, it shall deduct from the sentence of imprisonment, the total period the accused may have been in custody in the meantime, in connection with that offence. (2) If the total period of custody prior to conviction referred to in sub-section (1) is longer than the period of imprisonment to which the accused is sentenced, the accused shall be deemed to have served out the sentence of imprisonment and shall be released at once, if in custody, unless required to be detained in connection with any other offence; and if the accused is also sentenced to pay any fine in addition to such sentence, the fine shall stand remitted.]

36. All ⁵⁴[Judicial and Executive Magistrate] have the powers hereinafter respectively conferred upon them and specified in the third schedule. Such powers are called their "ordinary powers".

⁵⁵[37. In addition to his ordinary powers, any Judicial or Executive Magistrate may be invested by the Government or the Chief Judicial Magistrate or the District Magistrate, as the case may be, with any powers specified in the schedule IV: Provided that, the Government may authorize a District Magistrate to invest any Executive Magistrate subordinate to him with any of its powers specified in the schedule IV: Provided further that any Judicial Magistrate may be invested with such additional powers in consultation with the High Court Division.]

38. The power conferred on the District Magistrate by section 37 shall be exercised subject to the control of the Government.

39.(1) In conferring powers under this Code the Government may by order, empower persons specially by name or in virtue of their office or classes of officials generally by their official titles.

(2) Every such order shall take effect from the date on which it is communicated to the person so empowered.

40. Whenever any person holding an office in the service of Government who has been invested with any powers under this Code throughout any local area is appointed to an equal or higher office of the same nature, within a like local area ⁵⁶[***], he shall, unless the Government otherwise directs, or has otherwise directed, exercise the same powers in the local area in which he is so appointed.

⁵⁷[41.(1)The Government may withdraw all or any of the powers conferred under this Code on any person by it or by any officer subordinate to it:

Provided that where the conferring of a power is, under this code, required to be made in consultation with the High Court Division, the withdrawal thereof shall be made in consultation with that Court.

(2) Any powers conferred by the Chief Judicial Magistrate or the District Magistrate may be withdrawn by the chief Judicial Magistrate or the District Magistrate respectively.]