Independence, Judicial Courage and Government Compliance Under Political Influence in Bangladesh from 1972 to 2026

Description

The independence of the judiciary is a foundational pillar of constitutional democracy and the rule of law. In Bangladesh, the persistent tension between executive authority and judicial autonomy has produced a legal landscape in which political considerations have demonstrably shaped the outcomes of landmark constitutional and criminal cases. This study presents an original empirical analysis of 42 landmark High Court and Appellate Division cases decided between 1972 and 2026, drawn from a purpose-built dataset capturing political sensitivity, judicial courage, judicial independence, post-judgment government compliance, and associated legal and political attributes. Using descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlations, simple linear regression, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Kruskal-Wallis analysis, the study uncovers several novel relationships. Political sensitivity is found to be a statistically significant inverse predictor of judicial independence (r = −0.412, p = 0.007; regression: JIS = 8.776 − 0.933 × PSS, R² = 0.170). Both the Judicial Independence Score and the Judicial Courage Index show statistically significant temporal decline (Spearman r = −0.316, p = 0.047 and r = −0.431, p = 0.018, respectively), confirming systematic erosion since the 1990s. Decade-level analysis reveals a 47.1% decline in mean judicial independence from the 1990s (7.0) to the 2020s (3.7). Approximately 64.3% of cases weakened the rule of law, and 69% had a negative impact on judicial independence. These findings contribute to the empirical literature on judicial politics in Global South democracies, and have direct implications for constitutional reform in post-uprising Bangladesh.

Institutions

• Dhaka International University

  Dhaka Division, Dhaka

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