For criminal matters, it does not appear that a quasi-judicial body as suggested here would be the proper forum and normal criminal procedure should be applicable in such cases. Furthermore, as criminal cases are almost universally prosecuted by the state, the problems faced by the domestic workers should not be as insurmountable as it can be in the case of civil disputes. By this, it is not being implied that the child domestic workers would not face any problem in the criminal justice system rather only that as the burden of paying court fees and other costs of litigation are not an issue in a criminal case; the problem should be comparatively more manageable for them. There may or may not be a convincing case for a distinct legalisation for the protection of child domestic workers or domestic workers in general with a special set of rules for their protection. Let us proceed to consider the pros and cons of the inclusion of domestic workers within the existing Labour Act, 2006. It may be argued by the proponents of such a step that by including domestic work within the purview of the Act of 2006, the status of domestic workers would be lifted as they would automatically be entitled to the protection of the legal provisions on wages, leave, safety and hygiene at work etc.96 But it should be noted that granting substantive rights to domestic workers similar to that granted to industrial workers need not necessarily require that they need to be granted under the same legal instrument. On the other hand, it should be noted that the labour inspectors who are entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the Labour Act, 2006 are limited in number and already struggle to perform their legal responsibility relating to the industrial and commercial establishments.97 The procedure for settlement of the disputes 96 Clearly, this seems to be the intention of the HCD as expressed in the directives issued upon the Government in BNWLA v Bangladesh, above note 10. 97 Taslima Yasmin, ‘Burning Death Traps Made in Bangladesh: Who Is to Blame?’ (2014) 65(1) Labour Law Journal 51, at 55 referring to M. Monjur Morshed, A Study on Labour Rights Implementation in Readymade Garment (RMG) Industry in Bangladesh: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice (2007) University of Wollongong Theses Collection, at 108. 27

Select target paragraph3