Ordinance for separate judicial secretariat in the works: CJ Refaat

He says the law ministry is making headway towards establishing a separate secretariat for the judiciary

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has said that the Ministry of Law has made significant progress towards establishing a separate secretariat for the judiciary.

He also noted that work on drafting the ordinance related to the initiative is moving ahead swiftly.

The head of the judiciary made the remarks on Saturday at a regional seminar titled “Judicial Independence and Efficiency in Bangladesh”, held at Khulna's Hotel City Inn. The event was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Supreme Court and UNDP Bangladesh.

At the seminar, he said the Supreme Court and the interim government are working closely to implement the judicial reform roadmap successfully.

“The interim government has provided sincere support in implementing various aspects of the judicial reform roadmap I announced. Thanks to the government’s proactive efforts, it was possible to draft an ordinance for the quick appointment of judges to the higher courts. I extend my special thanks to the government for this,” he said.

With the government’s support, new judicial positions have been created at various levels to ease the case backlog in courts, the chief justice noted.

He also said that preliminary work on establishing specialised commercial courts has already been completed. Two special committees are also working to launch the Supreme Court Research Institute in Cox’s Bazar as soon as possible.

“The regional seminars have brought to the fore several important issues regarding the implementation of the roadmap. Based on these discussions, the Supreme Court will soon begin work on a strategic plan for the overall modernisation of the judiciary.”

He said the successful implementation of the strategic plan will complete the judiciary’s new journey in post-July Bangladesh and help restore public trust in the justice system.