Bangladesh Bar Council

Overview

The Bangladesh Bar Council is the statutory licensing and regulatory body for advocates in Bangladesh, set up under the Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order, 1972. To get a licence to practise as an advocate, you must pass the enrolment examination set by the Bar Council's Enrolment Committee. It has three stages: a preliminary multiple-choice (MCQ) test, a written examination and a viva-voce (oral) examination.

Passing puts your name on the roll of advocates. This is not the same as membership of the Bar Council, which is an elected position. After enrolment you must join a district or other recognised bar association before you can appear in any court, tribunal or revenue authority.

Who can apply

• You must be eligible under Article 27 of the Bar Council Order and Rules, which includes holding a law degree (LLB or Bar-at-Law, with an equivalence certificate where needed) and registering with the Bar Council.

• You must complete a 6-month pupillage (apprenticeship) with an advocate. For the MCQ notice issued in September 2025, the pupillage had to be complete by 31 October 2025, the last day of the form window.

• Degrees from universities not recognised by the Ministry of Education or the University Grants Commission, or from universities banned by the Bar Council or a court, are not accepted.

• Your name and your father's name must match across all certificates. Any mismatch or false information cancels your candidature at any stage and can lead to a ban from later exams.

• Candidates whose registration expired and who registered again take the exam as regular candidates with their new registration number.

Exam pattern

You must pass the MCQ to sit the written exam, and the written exam to reach the viva. In the MCQ you choose to see the question paper in Bangla or English. The written paper is printed in both languages, and when you submit the written form you choose whether to answer in Bangla or English.

MCQ marks by subject

Each question carries 1 mark.

Written exam by group

Syllabus

The Bar Council publishes a topic list for each Act:

• Civil Procedure: jurisdiction of civil courts, res judicata, pleadings, plaint and written statement, summons, interim orders such as injunctions and receivers, alternative dispute resolution, special kinds of suits, judgment and decree, execution, appeal, review, revision and reference.

• Specific Relief: recovery of possession, specific performance, rescission, rectification and cancellation of instruments, declaratory decrees and injunctions.

• Criminal Procedure: powers of criminal courts, arrest, police investigation, complaints to magistrates, summary trials and sessions trials, bail, compoundable offences, transfer of cases, appeal and revision.

• Penal Code: elements of an offence, common intention, abetment, general exceptions, conspiracy, offences against the state, the public, the human body and property, defamation and attempts.

• Evidence: relevancy of facts, admissions and confessions, oral and documentary evidence, presumptions, burden of proof, estoppel and examination of witnesses.

• Limitation Act, and professional ethics with the Bar Council Order and Rules and leading legal decisions.

Important dates

For the 2025-26 cycle:

• MCQ online form for regular candidates: 1 October to 31 October 2025.

• MCQ exam: 12 June 2026.

• Written exam form and profile submission: 14 July to 30 July 2026.

• Written exam admit cards: from 16 August 2026.

• Written exam: 22 August 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Viva dates are announced on the Bar Council notice board after the written results.

Fees

For the MCQ notice of September 2025, a regular candidate paid BDT 4,020 in total: an examination fee of BDT 1,500, an enrolment fee of BDT 2,000, an annual fee of BDT 200 and an online service fee of BDT 320.

For the 22 August 2026 written exam, regular candidates who passed the 2026 MCQ paid no further fee. Re-appearing candidates paid BDT 1,620.

All fees are paid by SMS from a Teletalk prepaid mobile number.

How to apply

1. Register with the Bar Council and complete your 6-month pupillage.

2. When the MCQ notice is published, fill in the online form on the Bar Council's Teletalk portal using your 9-digit Bar Council registration number. Upload a passport-size photo and signature, enter all your academic results from SSC onwards, choose the language of the MCQ paper, and make an online declaration of eligibility.

3. Pay the fee by sending two SMS messages from a Teletalk prepaid number. You receive a user ID and password, which you need to download your admit card.

4. After passing the MCQ, submit your profile again online for the written exam, and later for the viva. Admit cards are issued only to candidates who complete each online step.

5. Before the viva, submit hard copies of your certificates, mark sheets, registration card, pupillage forms, case list and affidavit to the Bar Council office.

After the exam

Re-appearing. Under rule 60A(3), a candidate who passes the MCQ but fails or misses the written exam that follows may sit the next written exam without retaking the MCQ. In 2026, candidates who passed the 25 April 2025 MCQ but did not pass the 28 June 2025 written exam were allowed to re-appear in the 22 August 2026 written exam.

After passing. Your name is entered on the roll of advocates and you receive your licence. You must then become a member of a recognised bar association before you can practise.

Preparation tips

• Work through the official syllabus Act by Act. The same seven areas run through both the MCQ and the written exam.

• Spend more time on the Civil Procedure Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code. Together they carry 60 of the 100 MCQ marks.

• For the written exam, practise answering full questions within time: about six answers in four hours.

• Check the notice board often. Every step has a fixed online window and late requests are not accepted.