In 2019, Bangladesh joined the ever-growing list of countries to recognize rivers as living entities with legal rights. The Bangladesh Rivers case is another example of advocacy from the Supreme Court in Bangladesh, and the article explores the relationship between the executive and the judiciary, and the ongoing role the judiciary has played in water law reform. The Court based its decision on a novel reading of the Constitution, linking the legal rights of the rivers to the public trust doctrine and the human right to a healthy environment. This foundation is itself potentially controversial, and the new legal status of the rivers may set their interests against those of the people who live along and rely upon them. By making comparisons between this case and similar decisions in India and Colombia, the Bangladesh Rivers case can be seen as part of the transnational movement to grant legal rights to rivers.

2019年，孟加拉国加入了不断增长的国家清单，以承认河流是具有合法权利的生物实体。孟加拉国河案是孟加拉国最高法院提倡的另一个例子，该文章探讨了行政机关与司法机关之间的关系，以及司法机关在水法改革中一直发挥的作用。法院的裁决基于对宪法的新颖解读，将河流的合法权利与公众信任理论联系在一起，而将人权与健康环境联系在一起。这个基础本身可能会引起争议，河流的新法律地位可能会使他们的利益与那些生活和依靠它们的人民的利益相对立。通过将此案例与印度和哥伦比亚的类似决定进行比较，