3 stages of Law making Process in Bangladesh

1. Stages of Law Making Process
 3 Stages
 Pre Legislative Phase
 Legislative Phase
 Post Legislative Phase

2. Pre-legislative Stage
 In the pre legislative phase, concerned ministry or line agency on
behalf of executive submitted a proposal to cabinet for its approval
to make a new law on a casual basis .Through cabinet approval,
the law making process is initiated primarily from the sponsoring
ministry.
 As soon as the Cabinet agrees on an initial legislative proposal,
the sponsoring ministry will send the file to the Ministry of Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for preparation of a draft bill or
for vetting of the preliminary draft bill already prepared and
approved in principle by Cabinet (Rules of Business, Rule: 14).
 When an acceptable form of the bill is achieved, it is again
forwarded to Cabinet for final approval as an official bill of the
government. As soon as Cabinet approves the bill for its
endorsement, the sponsoring ministry carries it to the Parliament
Secretariat to initiate the legislative phase.

3. Legislative Stage
 Legislative phase begins through submitting a notice to the
parliament Secretary for seeking permission to introduce a
bill in the house. It has three distinct stages which are
usually known in parliamentary parlance as first reading,
second reading and third reading respectively
 Subject to the provision of the Rules of Procedure (ROP),
the member-in-charge (Minister/MP) who shall desiring to
move for leave to introduce a bill, must submit a written
notice before seven days (for Government Bill) and fifteen
days (for Private Member Bill) to parliament secretary. But in
respect of Government Bill, Speaker for sufficient reasons
may suspend this rule and allows the motion at a shorter
notice (RoP:75)

4. Legislative Stage
 The notice is accompanied by two and three copies of bill for
Government Bill and Private Member Bill respectively along
with an explanatory statement of objectives and reasons. If
the Bill is one that under the Constitution requires the
previous recommendation of the President for its
introduction, the notice has to contain a certificate by the
minister that the Bill has been recommended by the
President for introduction.
 The motion to introduce Government Bills and Private
Member Bills in Parliament is made following the order of
days in a week which are known in parliamentary jargon as
Government Business Day and Private Members Business
Day(RoP:74,75). Thursday is reserved only for Private
Members Business and Government Business can be done
every day except Private Business day.

5. Legislative Stage
 When a Bill is introduced in the House, any member can oppose
it. As soon as a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is opposed, the
Speaker may allow a brief explanatory statement by the Member
opposing the leave for introduction and the Member-in-charge
moving for leave. Then after, the Speaker may without further
debate put the question to the vote of the House to settle the
matter. If permission is granted by the Speaker, the
member‐in‐charge, when called, formally moves a motion
introducing the bill, and on the motion being made, the bill stands
introduced. This process constitutes the first reading stage of a
Bill.
 When the bill is introduced in the house, it is published in the
Official Gazette. The secretary of the Parliament normally
arranges for the bill’s publication as early as possible, together
with the statement of objects and reasons and, if applicable, a
financial memorandum.

6. Legislative Stage
 The second reading stage of a Bill begins after a Bill has been
introduced. The member-in-charge of the Bill may propose that it may be
taken up for consideration, or referred to a standing committee or a
select committee, or be circulated for eliciting public opinion.
 However, any member may make a counter-motion calling against the
given proposal of member-in-charge, for example; if the member-in-
charge moves that his Bill be taken into consideration, any member may
move as an amendment that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee,
or to a Standing Committee, or be circulated for the purpose of eliciting
public opinion.
 Considering the motion and counter motion calling, the Speaker then
provides the issue on vote to decide where the Bill would forward for its
next course of action. If the Bill is decided for consideration, then the
speaker fixed a day for its clause by clause discussion and amendment.
In this part, every decision regarding its amendment is taken through
vote. When the bill is not accepted for consideration and decided to send
it on Select Committee or to a Standing Committee for closer
assessment, the committee returns the bill to the House with a report,
which may or may not contain proposed amendments.

7. Legislative Stage
 The member-in-charge may then move that the bill
as reported upon be taken up for consideration. At
this stage, debate on the motion is limited to
consideration of the committee report or any
alternatives consistent with the principles of the
bill. Furthermore, any member may propose
additional amendments to the bill. Copies of the
committee report are made available to the
members of the House. When a motion that the
bill be taken into consideration has been carried,
the speaker submits the bill, either clause-by-
clause or as a whole, to the House for a vote.
These all procedures are incorporated in the
second reading stage of the Bill.

8. Legislative Stage
 The third reading stage is generally short.
The member-in-charge makes a motion
that the bill be passed as presented, and
the speaker usually puts the motion to a
vote without allowing any further debate. A
bill is passed by a majority of the
member’s present and voting, subject to a
quorum of the session.

9. Post-legislative Stage
 Post legislative involved the assent of
President and the publication of Bill as an
Official Gazette. The assent of President to an
Ordinary Bill or a Finance Bill is governed by
Article 80 of the Constitution. The president
must assent to a bill passed by Parliament
within 15 days of presentation, or the bill is
deemed to be automatically assented to after
expiration of that period. Once a Bill receives
assent, or is deemed to be assented to, it
becomes law and is called an Act of
Parliament.

10. Post-legislative Stage
 Alternatively, the president may return the bill to Parliament (provided
it is not a money bill) with a message requesting reconsideration of
amendments as may be specified in the message. Parliament will
then reconsider the Bill and may pass it again with or without
amendments. The reconsidered Bill will then be presented once again
to the president. This time, however, assent shall be given within
seven days, otherwise the Bill is deemed to have received assent.
 A Money Bill passed by Parliament and presented to the President for
assent requires a certificate under the hand of the Speaker confirming
that it is a Money Bill. This procedure probably acts as a reminder to
the President that a Money Bill cannot be returned to Parliament for
reconsideration, unlike an ordinary Bill. After assent by the President,
the Secretary of the Parliament publishes the Bill as an Act of
Parliament in the Official Gazette. One original signed copy of the Bill
is preserved for verification and record purposes and shall not be
allowed to pass out of the custody of the House without the
permission of the Speaker.