STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The independence and effectiveness of the National Human Rights Commission will depend not only on the quality of the law but on the strength of institutions and the sincerity of political commitment, said experts yesterday.

“We have seen that even when excellent laws are made, the institutions for which they are intended often fail to function,” said Asif Nazrul, the law adviser, at a national consultation on the draft National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2025.

The consultation meeting on the draft was organised jointly by the law ministry, UNDP and the embassy of Switzerland at the InterContinental Dhaka.

The new draft law allows the NHRC to investigate all state and government agencies, which is not the case in the existing law.

“While we have no history of failure in making law, our failures in institution-building have been limitless. After coming into the government, I realised everything is person-centric, institution-centric.”

Emphasising institutional reform as the path out of the current dysfunctional system, Nazrul said that several key bodies need to be reinforced.

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