Justice Zinat Ara

Chairman 

Law Commission 

Justice Zinat Ara obtained her B.Sc. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Dhaka and the University of Rajshahi respectively. She joined the Judicial Service as a Munsif on 03.11.1978 and was promoted District and Sessions Judge on 15.09.1995.

She was elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court Division on 27.04.2003 and confirmed as Judge of the same Division on 27.04.2005. She was elevated as Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 09.10.2018.

Prior to her elevation, she worked as Chairman, Labour Court, Dhaka; District and Sessions Judge Gazipur and Tangail; Additional District and Sessions Judge Mymensingh and Dhaka; Senior Assistant Secretary (Drafting), Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Subordinate Judge and Assistant Sessions Judge, Comilla; Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Senior Munsif and Munsif in Dhaka and Narayangonj.

Justice Zinat Ara was a Member of the Law Reforms Committee, the Committee of Formulation of Judicial Policy in Bangladesh and General Administration Committee in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. 

Certificate and Training Programmes:

• Judicial Education Exchange Program at the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) of United States in Washington D.C, USA (2016).
• Training Workshop organized by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Beijing and Shanghai, China (2001).
• Training on Instruction for Lawyers : A Certificate Course held at the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, USA (1990)
• Training on Legislative Drafting: A Certificate Course for 6 months sponsored and conducted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in Bangladesh (1984). 

Publications and Presentation of Papers:

• Lead author of the monograph, ‘Bangladesh’ which is an integral part of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the International Encyclopedia of Law series published by Kluwer Law International.
• Presented papers on ‘Protection of Children in Labour Law and Social Security’, ‘Overview of Pre-trial Mediation and Conciliation-Lessons learned from Bangladesh Experience’,  ‘Present Compositions of Labour Court and Difficulties in Adjudication of Cases’, ‘Law and Protection of Non-Regular Workers’, ‘ Empowerment of Women and ILO Conventions No. 100 & 111’, ‘The National Legal Situation Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Work and the Work of Children’, ‘Women in Labour Law and Social Security: Asian Experience’, and ‘Children in Bondage’ in numerous international and national conferences, seminars and workshops.

Membership:

• Member, International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA), Geneva, Switzerland.
• Member, International Association of Women Judges, Washington D.C, USA.
• Advisor, Bangladesh Women Judges Association, Dhaka.

Countries Visited:

USA, UK, Australia, Botswana, France, Turkey, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Argentina, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Pakistan, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, UAE, India, Nepal, China, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Republic of San Marino.