Terror may 'sneak' in if rule of law not upheld
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday said terrorism may “sneak” into a country if the rule of law is not maintained there.
“For example, due to lack of the rule of law, one of the European countries is not qualified to be member of the European Union,” he said.
SK Sinha was speaking as the chief guest at the launch of Bangladesh Legal Times, a monthly law magazine, at Hotel Radisson in the capital.
“Terrorism is an instrument of the worst enemies of mankind bent on suppressing and crushing the people's struggle for global peace and security.
“It is a symptom, not the disease, and the reasons of the disease are mainly poverty, religious fanaticism, illiteracy, social inequality and sense of deprivation or frustration.”
He said, “Terrorism, in any form, has been one of the constant life threatening concerns affecting more or less every country of the world in the 21st century. Terrorism has no country and it is a threat to the whole mankind.
“As a peace-loving country, Bangladesh is fully committed and ready to fight against terrorism and support all meaningful steps to be taken by the international community to combat the menace,” he noted.
The chief justice also said the people of Bangladesh face significant hurdles in accessing the judicial system.
“Vulnerable groups, including the poor, women, children, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities face particular exclusion. Throughout the formal justice system, there is a significant lack of capacity within the judiciary, relevant ministries and statutory bodies.”
The chief justice said there are some specific constraints on access to justice. Those include prohibitive costs, corruption and undue influence and lack of awareness of legal rights.
“Nowadays it is unfortunate to note that lawyers are politically motivated.” They don't raise voice against the political parties they support, said SK Sinha.
“Some lawyers developed their mentality in commercialisation of the profession.” They are not interested in giving due attention to “substantive matters” such as first appeals and writs, he said.
“We always discover serious flaws in plaints, written statements, writ petitions and even in the bail petitions and injunction petitions. The quality of drafting legal instruments is degrading day by day.”
Lawyers are interested in injunction and bail matters, and it's hard to find adequate number of lawyers to deal with “substantive matters”, he said.
“If this continues, I do apprehend that judiciary will be in peril within 20 to 25 years and as a result, the rule of law which is the foundation of democracy will be a far cry.”
SK Sinha noted that one of the main reasons behind case backlog is “awful shortage” of judges in both tiers of the judiciary and lack of infrastructure.
He said the country now has 1,600 judges. The number is too meagre and inadequate for a country with a population of 16 crore. If the number of judges is not doubled, no dramatic change can be expected.
The chief justice hoped Bangladesh Legal Times would discuss serious legal matters and help students, lawyers, judges and other stakeholders enhance their knowledge.
Law Minister Anisul Huq and Legal Times Editor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh also spoke at the ceremony organised by the magazine's publisher, Banglar Bani.
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