Article 133 Laws on recruitment and service conditions
Appointment and conditions of service
Anyone applying for a government job, or working in one, is governed by laws and rules made under this Article. It is also the basis for challenging unfair recruitment or promotion rules in the Administrative Tribunal or the courts.
Parliament may pass an Act regulating appointments and conditions of service, as it did with the Government Service Act 2018. Such an Act takes priority over earlier presidential rules on the same subject, and later rules must fit within it.
Where there is no Act, the proviso lets the President make rules, such as recruitment rules for a particular cadre. In practice the Ministry of Public Administration drafts them and they are issued in the President's name after consultation with the Public Service Commission.
A graduate applies for a cadre post through the Bangladesh Civil Service examination. Eligibility, age limits, quotas and the selection process all come from rules made under Article 133, read with the equal opportunity guarantee in Article 29.
If an officer is denied promotion in breach of the rules, the dispute about terms and conditions of service usually goes to the Administrative Tribunal under Article 117, rather than to the High Court Division directly, because Article 117 gives such tribunals exclusive jurisdiction.
In plain English
How Article 133 works
Article 133 lets Parliament make laws on how people are appointed to government service and on their conditions of service, such as pay, promotion, leave and discipline. Until Parliament does so, the President may make rules on these matters, and those rules give way to any later law. Most of the civil service has in fact been run for decades on rules made by the President under this proviso, alongside the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules and the more recent Government Service Act 2018. All such rules must respect other parts of the Constitution, including equal opportunity in public employment under Article 29.
In practice
A large body of service law rests on this Article, from recruitment rules for each cadre to pension and conduct rules. In the Masdar Hossain case the Appellate Division held that the judicial service, though a service of the Republic, is functionally and structurally separate from the civil and administrative services, so rules made for the general civil service under Article 133 could not simply be applied to judges. Separate judicial service rules followed in 2007. Quota rules for recruitment, made under this Article, were the trigger for the 2018 and 2024 student protests, and were revised by government circulars after a July 2024 Appellate Division ruling.
The text
What Article 133 says
133. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution Parliament may by law regulate the appointment and conditions of service of persons in the service of the Republic:
Provided that it shall be competent for the President to make rules regulating the appointment and the conditions of service of such persons until provision in that behalf is made by or under any law, and rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any such law.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
Landmark cases
How the courts have read it
Appellate Division · 1999
Secretary, Ministry of Finance v Md Masdar Hossain
52 DLR (AD) 82
Held that the judicial service is a service of the Republic within Article 152(1) but is functionally and structurally separate from the civil and administrative services, and gave directions for separating the judiciary.
Case summaries are short descriptions for orientation, not a substitute for the judgment.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 133: frequently asked questions
Who makes the rules for government jobs in Bangladesh?
Parliament can make laws on appointment and conditions of service under Article 133. Until it does so for a particular matter, the President may make rules, and most recruitment and service rules have been made in that way through the Ministry of Public Administration.
Does Article 133 apply to judges of the lower courts?
The Appellate Division held in Masdar Hossain that the judicial service is a separate service. Rules for the general civil service could not simply govern judicial officers, and separate rules for the judicial service were made, in consultation with the Supreme Court.
Sources
- Laws of Bangladesh: Article 133, Appointment and conditions of service
- The Daily Star Law and Our Rights: review citing Masdar Hossain, 52 DLR (AD) 82
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
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