The InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights: A Study on Bangladesh Compliance 7. Recommendations 7.1 Legal Reform Right to Life116 As per Article 6 of the ICCPR, the State parties, which are not obliged to abolish the death penalty totally, are obliged to limit its use and, in particular, to abolish it for other than the ‘most serious crimes’. In this context, the government should consider reviewing the criminal laws as applicable in Bangladesh in order to restrict the application of the death penalty to the ‘most serious crimes’. Besides this, the expression ‘most serious crimes’ must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure and can only be imposed in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the Covenant. The procedural guarantees therein prescribed must be observed, including the right to a fair hearing by an independent tribunal, the presumption of innocence, the minimum guarantees for the defence, and the right to review by a higher tribunal. These rights are applicable in addition to the particular right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. The extent of inflicting capital punishment is quite high in Bangladesh. This phenomenon is closely related to the economic and social circumstances in the country. People’s 117 See also, Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment No. 18 on Nondiscrimination, Thirty-seventh-session, November 10, 1989. 91