Ashutosh Sarkar

Each HC judge is burdened with 6,552 cases, while Appellate Division judges are handling 4,446 cases each, and lower court judges 1,977 cases each.

The wait for justice is likely to grow longer in the case over the Holey Artisan militant attack that claimed the lives of 22 people, including 17 foreign nationals, nine years ago.

Judge shortage, lack of witnesses, inadequate court infrastructure blamed for delays

More than nine years have passed since a case was filed over the rape of a nine-year-old schoolgirl in Dhaka’s Khilkhet area. The tribunal dealing with the case has framed charges against the lone accused and held 96 hearings but is yet to complete the trial.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the full text of a verdict has upheld its previous judgement that reformulated 39-point code of conduct for its judges with a view to avoiding any confusion under article 96 of the constitution.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the full text of a verdict has observed that the sixteenth amendment to the constitution, which had empowered the parliament to remove the SC judges for incapacity or misbehavior, is a colourable legislation and is violative of separation of powers among the three organs of the state -- executive, legislature and judiciary, and independence of the judiciary.

Justice continues to evade the family of Sultana Jasmine, a 41-year-old land office employee from Naogaon, who died in the custody of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) over two years ago.

The High Court, in the full text of a verdict, has said that the appointments of Supreme Court judges were not always made on merit, and many unsatisfactory appointments were made to the High Court on political or other considerations, badly affecting the image of the country’s judiciary.

The high-powered task force, led by Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) chief Additional Inspector General Md Mustafa Kamal, has failed to submit any report to the High Court in connection with the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi, despite the six-month deadline given by the court expiring over two weeks ago.

The Judicial Reform Commission has recommended abolishing the mobile court’s power to impose jail sentences on people for committing offenses, saying that the imposition of imprisonment by such a court is contradictory to the constitution.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has suggested increasing the number of lower court judges to at least 6,000 by appointing around 4,000 additional ones in order to bring the backlog of pending cases to a tolerable level.

Twenty-four long years have passed since the bomb blasts at Ramna Batamul during Pahela Baishakh celebrations, yet justice remains out of reach for the victims.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has recommended that any judge showing political allegiance or expressing political views be considered guilty of misconduct and face disciplinary measures under the relevant code of conduct.

To this day, several high-profile criminal cases, like the BDR mutiny, Narayanganj seven-murder, and the killings of Bishwajit Das and Awami League lawmaker Ahsan Ullah Master, remain pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has recommended enacting a practical law to prevent false and vexatious cases, citing that such cases and the resulting sufferings of the accused are common in Bangladesh’s legal system.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has proposed new provisions requiring the full text verdict of Supreme Court judgements to be signed and released within six months of the delivery of a verdict.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has proposed the formation of a separate Independent Criminal Investigation Service and a permanent Government Attorney Service to ensure proper investigations and prosecution of criminal cases.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has proposed 11 recommendations, including a provision requiring judges of the Supreme Court, lower courts, and their officials to mandatorily disclose their wealth statements every three years to ensure transparency and prevent corruption in the judiciary.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has proposed a law to protect victims and witnesses, including their families and properties.

The Judiciary Reform Commission has recommended amending Article 116 of the constitution to ensure the judiciary’s full independence and the separation of powers. The commission has proposed transferring control and discipline of lower court judges from the president to the Supreme Court and establishing a Supreme Court secretariat.