Bangladesh

• The Constitution of 1972, the highest law
• Acts of Parliament, including old statutes from British India such as the Penal Code and the Contract Act
• Case law (precedent) of the Supreme Court and the courts below it
• Personal laws of each religion for family and inheritance matters (Muslim, Hindu, Christian and others)

• The Supreme Court, with an Appellate Division (the top court) and a High Court Division
• District courts and sessions courts
• Family courts and specialised tribunals

A law degree, then a bar council examination and enrolment as an advocate.

• The Supreme Court is split into two divisions, an appeal court and a court of first review.
• Family law depends on a person's religion, not on one common code.
• Much of the basic law, like criminal and contract law, still dates from the colonial period.
• Bangladesh, India and Pakistan share legal roots, so their cases are often compared.

India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Malaysia

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Bangladesh as: Muslim, Common law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Brunei, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan.

• Supreme Court of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Laws (Ministry of Law)

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.