The government has decided to bar entry into the legal profession after the age of 35 to raise professional standards and enhance the dignity of the judiciary as the Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman announced on Tuesday.
Speaking at the AGO-UNDP Internship Programme ceremony in Dhaka, the minister stated that moves are also underway to prevent retired civil servants and individuals from other professions from joining law late in life.
Addressing corruption within the legal system, Asaduzzaman urged the Bangladesh Bar Council to enforce strict accountability and ethical standards among practitioners. He condemned unethical practices such as deceiving clients with false promises of bribing judges also emphasizing that lawyers must be held accountable similarly to judges.
"A good lawyer must be free from greed" Asaduzzaman said, calling on legal professionals to act as "social engineers" and offer pro bono services to financially disadvantaged litigants.
The minister also announced that the Attorney General’s Office plans to train 500 interns over the next five years in collaboration with the UNDP. He assured that recruitment from public and private universities would be based strictly on merit without political or personal bias.
Additionally, Asaduzzaman highlighted artificial intelligence as a major upcoming challenge for the legal field and invited young legal talent to contribute to ongoing legislative drafting including updates to cyber laws, the Human Rights Commission Law and the Transfer of Property Act.
