Md Muzammel Hossain himself inaugurated such committee in Rajshahi. A source of the SC quoting the District Judge of Rajshahi Hossain Shahid Ahmed said that 96 percent cases pending since 2000 and back have already been settled with the help of case management committees. Rajshahi bar president Mujammel Hossain said 100 percent cases pending since 2000 and back are expected to be settled within December. A national seminar on “Case Management Committee: work modality, guidelines and way forward” will be held at the Supreme Court auditorium today. The Chief Justice will be chief guest while Law Minister Anisul Haque special guest at the event. The Justices of the SC, District and Sessions Judges, Chief Judicial Magistrates of all 64 districts and members of Special Committee for the Judicial Reforms will attend the programme. UNDP Country Director Ms. Pauline Tamesis will be special guest. Suffering of litigants is being intensified due to case backlogs across the country. As many as 27 lakh cases are pending with the higher and lower judiciary now. Besides, new cases are being filed everyday. The problem of case backlog is so serious that an average time of 5.3 years is needed for disposal of a civil case and 4 years for a criminal case. However, some cases take 15/20 years to be settled. Delay in submitting investigation and medical reports, servicing summons and process, frequent adjournments and non-appearance of witnesses are mainly contributing to the case backlog. The Supreme Court has taken the step to expedite the case disposal. With a view to protecting the litigants from this ordeal, the SC sent a letter to the district judges of 64 districts asking them to form case management committees. The case management committees should comprise the lawyers, judges and other concerned. They will sit together to identify problems and recommend solution and request police officials and civil surgeon concerned to submit their reports timely. A pilot project was initiated earlier by the SC in association with the UNDP to expedite the case disposal. Last year, case management committee was formed in three districts of Dhaka, Kishoreganj and Rangamati. It is learnt that case disposal in Dhaka courts increased by 48 percent under the new system. As such, the SC is going to introduce the system in other courts across the country. Chief Justice earlier said at a meeting, “Case management committees in the three pilot district courts of this project have created a significant impact on case management, coordination and supervision of the court administration and it has facilitated an increase in disposal rates.” He said if such committees and this model are scaled up in all district courts, the performance of judicial officers, coordination and the qualitative development of the judges of subordinate courts will improve resulting in quick disposal of cases. Sr District Judge S M Kuddus Zaman, also Special Officer & National Project Director of Judicial Strengthening Project (JUST), said the case management committees have been operating in three district courts since 2013 to identify problems and apply innovative solutions. Supported by UNDP, the disposal rate has been increased from 74 percent to 98 during this short period. He said a practical toolkit has also been developed and guidelines for the judiciary drafted as part of this process. The case management committees should implement decisions of the SC to address the issues like excessive adjournments, timely service of notices and other practical steps to ensure timely trials. Talking to daily sun, noted lawyer Barrister Rafique-ul Haq said the case backlog is emerging as a serious threat for the judiciary. He said the SC has taken a timely decision to form case management committee in all districts to mitigate the suffering of the litigants. Cutting a joke, he said, “If case backlog continues, a time will come when all case documents should be piled up in a stadium. Then the documents will be divided into two parts. The cases in the left side should be rejected and those in right side should be allowed.”
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Woes of litigants for case backlog:Daily Sun
Md Muzammel Hossain himself inaugurated such committee in Rajshahi. A source of the SC quoting the District Judge of Rajshahi Hossain Shahid Ahmed said that 96 percent cases pending since 2000 and back have already been settled with the help of case management committees. Rajshahi bar president Mujammel Hossain said 100 percent cases pending since 2000 and back are expected to be settled within December. A national seminar on “Case Management Committee: work modality, guidelines and way forward” will be held at the Supreme Court auditorium today. The Chief Justice will be chief guest while Law Minister Anisul Haque special guest at the event. The Justices of the SC, District and Sessions Judges, Chief Judicial Magistrates of all 64 districts and members of Special Committee for the Judicial Reforms will attend the programme. UNDP Country Director Ms. Pauline Tamesis will be special guest. Suffering of litigants is being intensified due to case backlogs across the country. As many as 27 lakh cases are pending with the higher and lower judiciary now. Besides, new cases are being filed everyday. The problem of case backlog is so serious that an average time of 5.3 years is needed for disposal of a civil case and 4 years for a criminal case. However, some cases take 15/20 years to be settled. Delay in submitting investigation and medical reports, servicing summons and process, frequent adjournments and non-appearance of witnesses are mainly contributing to the case backlog. The Supreme Court has taken the step to expedite the case disposal. With a view to protecting the litigants from this ordeal, the SC sent a letter to the district judges of 64 districts asking them to form case management committees. The case management committees should comprise the lawyers, judges and other concerned. They will sit together to identify problems and recommend solution and request police officials and civil surgeon concerned to submit their reports timely. A pilot project was initiated earlier by the SC in association with the UNDP to expedite the case disposal. Last year, case management committee was formed in three districts of Dhaka, Kishoreganj and Rangamati. It is learnt that case disposal in Dhaka courts increased by 48 percent under the new system. As such, the SC is going to introduce the system in other courts across the country. Chief Justice earlier said at a meeting, “Case management committees in the three pilot district courts of this project have created a significant impact on case management, coordination and supervision of the court administration and it has facilitated an increase in disposal rates.” He said if such committees and this model are scaled up in all district courts, the performance of judicial officers, coordination and the qualitative development of the judges of subordinate courts will improve resulting in quick disposal of cases. Sr District Judge S M Kuddus Zaman, also Special Officer & National Project Director of Judicial Strengthening Project (JUST), said the case management committees have been operating in three district courts since 2013 to identify problems and apply innovative solutions. Supported by UNDP, the disposal rate has been increased from 74 percent to 98 during this short period. He said a practical toolkit has also been developed and guidelines for the judiciary drafted as part of this process. The case management committees should implement decisions of the SC to address the issues like excessive adjournments, timely service of notices and other practical steps to ensure timely trials. Talking to daily sun, noted lawyer Barrister Rafique-ul Haq said the case backlog is emerging as a serious threat for the judiciary. He said the SC has taken a timely decision to form case management committee in all districts to mitigate the suffering of the litigants. Cutting a joke, he said, “If case backlog continues, a time will come when all case documents should be piled up in a stadium. Then the documents will be divided into two parts. The cases in the left side should be rejected and those in right side should be allowed.”
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