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68
International and Comparative Law Journal (ICLJ)
PERSONALITY
Barrister Manzoor Hasan, OBE:
A Lawyer and a Reformer, He Is Equal Part Man,
Legend and Inspiration
Shahzeb Mahmood1
The summer of 2003 saw Mr. Manzoor Hasan being bestowed with
one of the most honourable civilian order of chivalry known to
mankind. A humble, patient and soft-spoken man with amazing
vision, infectious ambition and, most importantly, unswerving and
indefatigable optimism, Mr. Hasan firmly believes that the award
was accorded not just to him but to the whole country and, more
significantly, to his colleagues. He worked tirelessly to curb
corruption in Bangladesh and around the world and when asked
by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as to whether his work had been
intricate, he came up with unostentatious words that would
invariably humble even the most self-conceited man.
Barrister Manzoor Hasan was born in 1956 to a family which,
according to his forefathers, is said to share the bloodline of Caliph
Abu Bakr and Emperor Jahangir and has distinguished legal legacy
The author is a student of LL.B.(Hon’s) under University of London at the
London College of Legal Studies (South). He is also a former English Club
Moderator at the Daily Star.
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stretching back to at least three generations. While his grandfather
started career as a lawyer in British India and retired as a district
session judge in Bangladesh, Mr. Hasan's great grandfather, Justice
Nawab Sir Syed Shamsul Huda, was the second Bengali Muslim
judge in the Bihar High Court Bench. The Knight of the British
Empire was just as visionary as Mr. Hasan, a great believer of
education and was extremely concerned about the poor quality of
education that the Muslim community received back then. He
advocated the more refined European-style education system. His
well-founded
concern
and
vindication
transpired
to
an
encouragement for a number of generations to come, creating
legends like Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Meheriar Munim Hasan and, of
course, Barrister Manzoor Hasan himself.
Mr. Hasan, a young boy nearing 15 in the September of 1971,
travelled to the United Kingdom to advance his educational
progression. Initially he thought of obtaining his education in the
area of diplomatic service. However, development became a major
preoccupation and he stated his schooling in London School of
Economics as a student of Economics. In the October of '79, he
returned back to Bangladesh and joined BRAC as a research
associate. A fresh graduate from one of the most reputed university
in London, Mr. Hasan's involvement in research in development
publication- 'NET', first ever study on power structure in the rural
areas of Bangladesh- made his parents buy him a second passage to
the United Kingdom for him to pursue higher education with the
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aim to allow him to widen the purview of his enlightenment. There
he was faced with two options: accounting or law. Even though the
legal profession skipped a generation, Mr. Hasan's father- who
studied chemistry in the University of Dhaka- advised him to bear
the family legacy and study law. In 1985, Mr. Hasan was finally
called to the Bar and he returned back to Bangladesh two years
later, albeit only for a short period of time.
Barrister Hasan, from early 1980s to mid 1990s, underwent the most
profound years of diverse experience that forms the highlight of his
legal activism. He acted as an agent for Crown Prosecution Service
but mostly took cases related to immigration, employment and
social security and had successful challenged a number of tribunal
decisions by way of judicial review applications in the United
Kingdom. In Bangladesh, after having completed his pupillage
under Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, he practiced for a year under
Barrister Kamal Hossain in international commercial arbitration
cases before he got started with the Transparency InternationalBangladesh (TIB). That, however, forms a different chapter in the
chronology.
When asked about how he got exposed to such varied assortment
of diversification, Barrister Hasan smilingly said that he feels he
has to do something different every few years. He likes exploring
new things, which explains his diverse area of practice in the past
30 years which, at times, even surprises him. He enumerates a
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number of experiences in the United Kingdom to explain how he
got involved in certain practices. Alongside the studies for the Bar
in 1980, he was also involved with Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB)
in Bricklane, the East-end of London, a populous area for
Bangladeshi immigrants. Working from his office in Toynbee Hall,
Mr. Hasan, an aspiring Barrister then, picked up immigration and
refugee issues which gave him access to and got him involved with
laws relating to immigration, refugee and nationality. That
experience at CAB paved his way for him to join the Joint Council
for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) – a voluntary organisationwhere he stayed till 1985. For a brief period of time, Mr. Hasan
came back to Bangladesh where he did his pupillage under
Barrister Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, under whom at that time the
current Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Muhammad Mozammel
Hossain, was a junior associate.
In 1987, Mr Hasan, returned back to UK where he set up a regional
office of JCWI in West Midland and held the position of a Branch
Manager. His distending legal activities lead him to quit JCWI in
1990 and subsequently join Victoria Chamber in Birmingham,
which marked the beginning of a decade-long active legal activism.
Juggling between appearing in the court as a CPS agent and
litigating judicial review cases relating to immigration and
nationality law, Barrister Hasan rose in prominence and made his
mark by successfully challenging a number of tribunal decisions.
He also joined a set of chambers in the Temple, a legal district in
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the central London. Continually commuting between Birmingham
and London several times a week, Mr. Hasan recounts his busy
days between 1990 and 1995 to be surpassingly interesting and 'one
of a kind experience- the ones that becomes imprinted in your
mind'.
Barrister Hasan, at this point of his life, felt that he should return to
the country of his origin. He cerebrated that he could contribute
more to the society in that way. He also wanted his children to
grow up in a culture that moulded his past, the one that can give
them the opportunity to know their language, value the glorious
history of their nation, grow up with their family and, most
importantly, have their own identity. Barrister Kamal Hossain was
also keen to see him in Bangladesh and, when asked by him to
come back to Dhaka, Barrister Hasan asked him to make an offer
that he cannot refuse. The rest, he corroborates, is history.
In June 1995, Barrister Hasan landed in then Zia International
Airport and joined Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates. With a
discerning smile, he admitted that while he assisted Barrister
Hossain and went to the courts, he did so halfheartedly, for in his
mind he was still in the immaculate courtrooms of the High Court
of England and Wales. He acknowledges that the comparison itself
was unfair, but he failed to get induced by the unprofilic
environment of the legal system of Bangladesh. His serendipitous
impatience got the better of him and one fine day Mr. Hasan came
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across a letter with the letterhead 'Transparency International' on
the table of Barrister Kamal Hossain. The title itself stopped him in
his track. Plunged in deep curiosity and riddled with adversity
over the hapless legal system of the country, Mr. Hasan
commenced a journey that gave him a new identity altogether. He
started to unearth about this newly established NGO and found
that it worked in the field of governance dealing with corruption.
This was all it took to ignite the fire within him.
This is the chapter in his life when TIB was formed as an
organisation and had board of trustee but was not operational. One
of the trustee approached Mr. Hasan, saying, “You had been out of
Bangladesh for a long time, yes? You must be relatively clean. Why
don't you start this?” This, according to Mr. Hasan, was music to
his ears. What follows is rather interesting and eventful. He went to
Barrister Kamal Hossain and unflinchingly told him that he was
quitting and that he wanted to start this new chapter in Bangladesh
with Transparency International. After having been subjected to an
hour long lecture as to why he should not leave the legal
profession, he unfalteringly repeated, “I am still leaving.”
Barrister Hasan started his work from the extra room in his flat in
Mohakhali DOHS just after a year of having returned from
England. Working as the Founding Executive Director of TIB, Mr.
Hasan, along with his small team, found a new 500-square-feet
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office within the next six months at Insurance Academy Bhaban,
two blocks away from his current office.
The Chairman of the Board of TIB, also the chairman of BRAC
governing body and chairman of Renata Pharmaceutical, Syed
Humayun Kabir was, Mr. Hasan affirms, the best inspiration to him
as far as TIB is concerned. He found Mr. Kabir to be a man of
vision, unlike anyone he has ever seen, with an amazing clarity of
thinking and an unswerving trust on young people. Most
importantly, he was a man of his words. He remembered, with an
excited voice, how Mr. Kabir promised to support him to make TIB
a success and how his ideas and support inspired him in his eight
years-long journey with TIB.
At TIB, Mr. Hasan initiated a number of projects and was involved
in activities that upheld the values of good governance, one of them
being National Integrity Strategy (NIS). The programme was
developed by a team at BRAC University for the then government
of Bangladesh, invariably led by Mr. Hasan. NIS, he elaborated, is
an instrument to enhance integrity and eliminate corruption within
institutions, ensure meliorated honesty and morality in people,
policies and procedures. The overall purpose of NIS is to provide a
system that will create trust among the citizen. Its counterpart in
Singapore was a massive success, having achieved one of the
lowest level of corruption in the world and changed its image into a
beacon of good governance in Asia. While Bangladesh's legal
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framework ranked very high at 84% in the 2008 Global Integrity
Index, in practical implementation received merely 54% marks. By
comparison, both India and Pakistan fared better.
Under the Strategy, Committee of Concerned Citizens (a form of a
pressure group) was set up which was later scaled up to form the
first project, 'Making Waves'. The purpose behind the project was
to set up Advising and Information Centres (AIC). The idea
evolved and, in 2009, Right to Information Act (RTI Act) was
enacted that had its groundwork based on the idea. He was also
involved with assessing the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption (UNCAC) in relation to the laws of Bangladesh and
opines that in most of the cases the laws are compliant to UNCAC.
The gaps that exist, Mr. Hasan says, has duly been identified and
are in the process of being corrected.
The solution to all the vexed question relating to corruption, lack of
accountability and transparency is as simple as it is complicated:
the change will ultimately come with an assemblage of 'educated'
policy-makers with the right vision. Pressure group activism,
lobbying, media coverage and 'constructive' criticism can go just
far. The key is to change the mindset of the politicians and the
overall political culture of Bangladesh. Mr. Hasan often says that
the sacred cow of the corruption was brought to the ground
because of the work that TIB did. While TIB helped curb
corruption, the system is far from being called 'clean' and can be
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perceived to be rampant and beyond any acceptable threshold
which, at times, has crippling effect on the economy.
Mr. Hasan further explained, saying, “Political leadership is of very
significative factor. Institutions will only functions if they are
allowed to function independently with apt effectiveness and
efficiency. Moreover, the need for effective mechanism to assure
accountability is imperative for the success of the process.
Newspapers can attempt to expose and the civil society can make
noise about it but it is the politicians and policy-makers who can
ultimately formulate and implement the policies that can give us
strong institutions. What saddens me is that if one looks at key
institutions such as the judiciary, which is probably the most
important institutions in any civilised society, it is not how it
should be and it is open in the public domain for everyone to see. It
has to be independent and of the highest integrity.
“The United States of America, South Korea, Malaysia, the United
Kingdom.... has excellent mechanism in place to ensure check and
balance between the various organs of the State. If one would
observe correctly, such integrity is inherent in the system or, in
some cases, is adapted; it probably wouldn't work if we import it
from another country. But what matters the most is an absolute
commitment for us to ensure its implementation. In Singapore, the
civil service, for instance, is paid really well. In India, the AntiCorruption Commission and the Election Commission is extremely
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strong and independent. What we lack is the right vision. Where do
we want to see Bangladesh years from now? Our political
leadership needs to set that vision.”
Mr. Hasan believes that in order to ensure a 'clean' and 'healthy'
politics, an enlightened generation of independent youth must
enter the arena. He said that our generation, that is people born
post '71, growing up in the 21st century, in Bangladesh which is as
important as any other country, the ones not burdened by some of
the historical legacy of the past must keep in mind the positive
teachings of the past, build on it and move forward. The spirit of
the war of liberation should take us, as a nation, to a new height.
While admitting that the concept is open to divergent subjective
interpretation, Mr. Hasan added that the core elements will remain
the same: through unity and mutual understanding, to make the
country prosperous and take it forward; to build a country that is
inclusive in its thinking. “The spirit of War of Liberation was to
create 'Shonar Bangla': a spirit that upholds the philosophy of a
nation free of exploitation and a system based on equality and
justice.”
Mr. Hasan further expounded the issue, stating that the social
indicator indicates that Bangladesh has done really well. One area
where we, as a nation, have failed significantly is politics. If we can
marginally improve ourselves in this arena, he continued, the
country can improve at a massive scale. This end can only be
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achieved if, as a nation, we unite and balance our expectations
without making it over-ambitious or utterly unprogressive. He
concluded, quoting the first Chancellor of Germany, Otto von
Bismarck, “Politics is an art of possible.”
Besides the dismal state of our national politics, Mr. Hasan
expressed his discontentment relating to the doleful human rights
status in Bangladesh. Highlighting the fact that good governance
and human rights are intrinsically connected, he cast light on how
institutions such as the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary
are often in breach of human rights principles due to explicit lack of
transparency, efficiency, accountability and often undue influence.
If the principles are duly followed then there will be a massive
statistical decline in police harassment, extra-judicial torture, deaths
by cross-fire and imprisonment without trial. Most commonly, the
victims of such profane infringement are amongst the less
privileged class of the society whose access to the formal (or
informal) justice sector is graphically next to nonexistent. Even
when one knocks on the doors of a courtroom, the time consumed
thenceforth is at least ten times more than its counterparts in the
developed regions of Western Hemisphere. And where the
'immoderates' tend to litigate to enforce basic human rights, like
access to justice, court verdicts are largely ignored and are left
unimplemented, resulting in what one would right call 'mockery of
justice'.
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However Mr. Hasan opines that comparatively our human rights
status is not as bad as it is elsewhere around the word and that
overwhelmingly we are law-abiding, considering the number of
police officer per capita compared to the crime statistics. Without a
system, we have created a system and are servile to that system. He
explained, drawing analogy to the elevated situation of the country
when the army intervenes. He strongly believes that we are
inherently tolerant, honest, patient and law-abiding citizens quite
contrary to what others may believe.
There is no denying that the human rights status in Bangladesh
requires refurbishing. Unlike the United Kingdom, Bangladesh
does not have a higher judicial infrastructure like the European
Court of Human Rights. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh stands
as the highest court of the land. Mr. Hasan believes that such
supranational body may come in to existence if we attain a level of
regional
coherence,
unity
and
consentaneousness;
he
also
acknowledges that any such state of affair is far from being
materialised since it requires an advanced degree of political
motivation and regional unanimity- something similar to the one
seen during the establishment of South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Citing the functional theory of
political integration, Mr. Hasan concludes that any such goal can
only be achieved if there is uniformity in terms of social, political
and economic consonance.
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Barrister Manzoor Hasan established the firm, Manzoor Hasan &
Associates, with the vision to promote transparency in Bangladesh
through litigation. Having coined the phrase 'Transparency Interest
Litigation', the firm works tirelessly to establish greater respect for
rule of law in the society. He is currently serving as the Institutional
Advisor of the Institute of Governance Studies, BRAC University,
Bangladesh. He is also the Executive Director of the South Asian
Institute of Advanced Legal and Human Rights Studies (SAILS), an
initiative sponsored by South Asian Foundation (SAF), in which
Dr. Kamal Hossain is the chairperson and Sir Fazle Abed a member
of the board. The minds behind the project aims to identify the
contemporary problems which are slowing the development of
human rights in the South Asian region and promote an
understanding, through research and education, to further
harmonisation, development and unification of the laws of the
region that will result in greater regional prosperity.