The Supreme Court Secretariat and Challenges
Sohul Ahmed Moku : It is remarkable that, in 2025, inter alia, the establishment of the Supreme Court Secretariat, which has the authority over promotions, postings, and transfers of lower court judges, was shifted from the law ministry to the SC Secretariat through an ordinance.
Moreover, the separation of civil and criminal courts in the District Courts will improve public access to justice, as individual District Court judges will conduct hearings either on civil or criminal matters.
The Government of Bangladesh promulgated the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025. This ordinance introduces a series of reforms aimed at modernizing civil litigation by embracing digital technologies, reducing scope for procedural abuse, and streamlining the litigation process. Hopefully, concerned Court administration, Judges, and Lawyers will follow these changes.
However, this change does not reduce the case backlog unless we take a proper scheme. The legal system of Bangladesh has long been criticized for procedural delays, inefficiency, and an overwhelming backlog of cases. At present, a total of 4,516,603 cases are pending across all courts in Bangladesh.
The Supreme Court Secretariat could consider the following steps:
1. In the first instance, the court should find that the lodged case is false, then the Court must impose the penalty under Section 35A of the CPC. Courts may now impose a fine of up to BDT 50,000 on parties who file false or vexatious claims.
2. The court, the lower or primary court, examines the witness statement, evidence, and hears both parties’ lawyers’ final submission. The Judge will discharge his duties and responsibilities by declaring his Judgement.
3. The aggrieved parties may appeal against the Primary court’s judgment. If so, the concerned party must seek permission to appeal. The court administration arranges a case management, including a hearing. The Judge will examine whether there is any merit to the lodged appeal. If the Judge finds there is no merit in the appeal, they could disallow to proceed to appeal. This process could prevent abuse of the judicial process, in particular, Civil matters.
The UK courts administration has maintained the above process; therefore, no case backlog has occurred.
Author is an Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh & Lawyer, Supreme Court of England.
