Article 18A Protecting the environment and biodiversity
Protection and improvement of environment and biodiversity
Environmental compliance is a growing concern for industry, including tanneries, brick kilns and factories near rivers. Article 18A, read with the right to life, supports strict judicial action on pollution and encroachment.
Article 18A asks the State to protect the environment and safeguard natural resources, biodiversity, wetlands, forests and wildlife for present and future citizens. It brings the idea of intergenerational fairness into the Constitution. It complements the right to life in Article 32.
Developers fill in the banks of the Turag river near Dhaka. A rights organisation, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, files a writ petition asking the High Court Division to stop the encroachment and pollution.
In 2019 the High Court Division declared the Turag, and all rivers in Bangladesh, to be legal persons or living entities, so that they could be protected from encroachment and pollution. Directions to the authorities followed.
Government agencies and the river commission are expected to remove illegal structures and stop pollution. Commentators note that enforcement has been uneven, so further litigation is often needed. The National River Conservation Commission plays a central role in this work.
In plain English
How Article 18A works
Article 18A was added by the Fifteenth Amendment in 2011. It says the State shall try to protect and improve the environment and to preserve and safeguard natural resources, biodiversity, wetlands, forests and wildlife for present and future citizens. It is the first express environmental provision in the Constitution. Before it existed, courts protected the environment by reading it into the right to life. Because it is a principle of state policy, Article 18A is not enforceable on its own, but it strengthens environmental arguments in court and guides laws on rivers, forests, pollution and conservation.
In practice
Bangladesh courts have a long record of environmental public interest litigation. In the Mohiuddin Farooque cases of the 1990s the courts broadened standing and linked a healthy environment to the right to life, long before Article 18A existed. Since 2011, Article 18A has added explicit constitutional support. In 2019 the High Court Division declared the Turag and all rivers legal persons, and the Supreme Court has upheld the relocation of polluting tanneries from Hazaribagh. Enforcement remains the main challenge.
The text
What Article 18A says
[18A. The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to preserve and safeguard the natural resources, bio-diversity, wetlands, forests and wild life for the present and future citizens.]
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
High Court Division · 2019
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh v Bangladesh (Turag river case)
Declared the Turag river and all rivers in Bangladesh legal persons or living entities to protect them from encroachment and pollution.
Appellate Division · 1996
Dr Mohiuddin Farooque v Bangladesh (Flood Action Plan case)
49 DLR (AD) 1; 17 BLD (AD) 1
Read 'person aggrieved' broadly so that a public-spirited person or body with sufficient interest can bring environmental cases.
Case summaries are short descriptions for orientation, not a substitute for the judgment.
History
Amendments
- Fifteenth Amendment 2011Inserted Article 18A.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 18A: frequently asked questions
What is Article 18A of the Constitution of Bangladesh?
Article 18A, added in 2011, says the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to preserve and safeguard natural resources, biodiversity, wetlands, forests and wildlife for present and future citizens.
Can I go to court to protect the environment in Bangladesh?
Yes. Although Article 18A is not enforceable on its own, the courts treat a healthy environment as part of the right to life under Article 32, and since the Mohiuddin Farooque case a person with sufficient interest can file a public interest writ under Article 102.
Sources
- bdlaws: The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Article 18A
- The Daily Star: Landmark environmental law verdicts (June 2019)
- Dhaka Tribune: Turag given 'legal person' status to save it from encroachment (January 2019)
- ELAW: Farooque v Government of Bangladesh, CA 24 of 1995 (25 July 1996) (Flood Action Plan case)
- Asian Development Bank, Law and Policy Reflections: M Farooque v Government of Bangladesh, 17 BLD (AD) 1 (1997)
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.
Constitutional and writ practice
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