More than 4.6 million cases pending in Bangladesh, a mountainous challenge for 2,300 judges: Law Minister
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman has said more than 4.6 million cases are pending in the country. He said disposing of this huge number of cases is a mountainous challenge for 2,300 judges.
The law minister made the remarks on Thursday as chief guest at the inauguration of two e-family appeal courts in the conference room of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Noting that disposing of more than 4.6 million cases often creates inhuman pressure on judges, the law minister said this pressure is even greater in Dhaka, Chattogram and the metropolitan areas.
He said the government is thinking of posting judges in districts where case pressure is high who can show judicial activism in disposing of cases quickly, not just do the job. Such officers will be selected and brought in, he said.
Md Asaduzzaman said he has received reports of courts being run for only two to three hours in some places. He said lawyers had just told him that in some courts judges arrive at 11am and finish work and leave between 1:30pm and 2pm.
The law minister said if there is any judicial officer who wants to do the job in comfort, he hopes arrangements can be made for them. They will be posted to a place where the job can be done in comfort, he remarked.
Noting that the law ministry is ready to accept any good advice, the law minister said the ministry's door is always open. He spoke of taking the field of justice to a place of people's trust, faith and confidence.
Addressing judges, he said they must be more conscious so that people do not think that judges in Bangladesh are not delivering justice or are not skilled at keeping pace with the times.
The law minister said the biggest challenge for the judiciary in the coming days will be artificial intelligence, or AI. When judgments are written relying on AI and signatures and depositions are taken, there will be a possibility of justice being defeated, he said.
He said AI can now clone people so perfectly and imitate human voices so perfectly that it will become the biggest challenge for judges in the coming days.
Addressing judges, the minister said that to consciously protect the place of justice and to face AI, they must become more skilled in the digital sector. He said he believes judges are ready to take up this challenge to meet the demands of the age.
Law Minister Asaduzzaman noted that if cases can be settled through mediation before filing, pressure on courts will fall. He said this programme has already been launched in 30 districts and the success rate there is more than 62 percent.
He said pre-filing mediation is being done for filing cases under 11 laws. If the flow of case filings can be reduced and judicial officers give a little more time and dedication to disposing of existing cases, many cases can be disposed of within a year, he said.
Dhaka District and Sessions Judge Md Rafiqul Islam, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Shahjahan Kabir, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman, Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqui, GP of the District and Sessions Judge Court Iqbal Hossain, along with law ministry officials, judicial officers and court-related persons, were present at the programme.
