Framework of Engagement with International Law

International law was the instrument by which Bangladesh argued for its independence in 1971, and the medium through which its statehood was established and then recognised, culminating in United Nations membership in 1974. Chapter two of Bangladesh and International Law, edited by Mohammad Shahabuddin for Routledge, argues that this origin shaped a continuing and distinctive posture towards the discipline.

Article 25 of the Constitution is where the chapter reads that posture off the text. The state is directed to base its international relations on respect for sovereignty and equality, non-interference, peaceful settlement and respect for international law and the United Nations Charter, and on those bases to strive for the renunciation of force, uphold the right of peoples to choose their own systems, and support oppressed peoples against imperialism, colonialism and racialism. Few constitutions commit their foreign relations in such terms.

From there the chapter traces how history and geopolitical, economic and security interests have worked on that commitment. Its premise, and the volume needs it, is that Bangladesh has a theory of international law rather than merely a relationship to it.