A writ petition was filed with the High Court challenging the legality of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Act.

Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Mohsin Rashid filed the writ petition and secretaries of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, the Registrar General of the Supreme Court and other concerned officials were made respondents to the writ petition.

Advocate Mohsin Rashid said the writ petition has already been placed before a High Court bench led by Justice Khizir Hayat for hearing.

Mohsin Rashid said the existing ICT Act is unlawful and lacked a legitimate purpose.

“The only purpose of the law was its amendment and use in 2009 to carry out what I describe as judicial killings,” he claimed.

Criticising the latest amendment to the ICT Act, he said “The changes introduced in 2024  turned the law into an instrument of ‘judicial murder’. It is a tribunal that kills people through judicial processes. Therefore, it should be abolished,” he said.

The International Crimes Tribunal Act was enacted in 1973 to prosecute crimes against humanity committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

The law was amended in 2009 to allow the prosecution of both individuals and organisations and to facilitate the independent functioning of the tribunal.