The government will merge the two international crimes tribunals into one as the number of pending war crimes cases has dropped recently.

“Within a few weeks, we will turn two International Crimes Tribunals into a single tribunal through reconstitution as more than one tribunal is not necessary now,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told The Daily Star recently.

Only a few war crimes cases are now pending with the two tribunals as most of the cases have already been settled by them, he said.

There is no necessity of keeping six High Court judges in the tribunals for holding trials of the remaining few war crimes related cases, the law minister said.

Anisul also said there was a huge backlog of cases pending with the HC, and they would be heard and disposed off quicker if some of the judges are brought back to the HC from the tribunals.

He did not elaborate the legal process of merging the two tribunals but said the government would take necessary steps for the purpose.

Tribunal sources said no legal complexity would arise if a single tribunal holds the trials of all five war crimes cases pending with the two tribunals.

The Awami League-led government formed the first tribunal on March 25, 2010, in line with the party's electoral pledge to try people who committed crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

The government formed the second tribunal on March 22, 2012, to expedite the trials of war crimes related offences.

The Tribunal-1 so far disposed off eight cases filed against eight war criminals, while the Tribunal-2 settled nine cases of war crimes offences committed by 10 people.

The convicts are Abdul Quader Mollah, assistant secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami (death sentence), Ghulam Azam, former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (90-year jail sentence), Abdul Alim, former BNP minister (jail until death), Delawar Hossain Sayedee, nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat (death sentence), Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, assistant secretary of Jamaat (death sentence), Abdul Kalam Azad, expelled Jamaat member (death sentence), Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, Islami Chhatra Sangha leader in 1971(death sentence), Ashrafuzzaman Khan, Islami Chhatra Sangha leader in 1971 (death sentence),  MA Zahid Hossain Khokon, a BNP leader from Faridpur (death sentence), Abdul Jabbar, former Jatiya Party lawmaker (jail until death), Motiur Rahman Nizami, ameer of Jamaat (death sentence), Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, secretary general of Jamaat (death sentence), Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, BNP standing committee member (death sentence), Abdus Subhan, nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat, (death sentence), ATM Azharul Islam, assistant secretary of Jamaat (death sentence), Mir Quasem Ali, member of Jamaat's central executive committee (death sentence), Syed Mohammad Qaisar, former Jatiya Party minister (death sentence) and Mobarak Hossain, expelled Awami League leader (death sentence).

Ghulam Azam and Abdul Alim died inside jail while Azad, Mueen, Ashrafuzzaman and Khokon are still on the run.

Quader Mollah was executed on December 12, 2013, following a Supreme Court verdict.

The SC has upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman and jailed Sayedee until his death.

The appeals of other convicts, now in custody, are pending with the apex court.