Lower courts get 32 asst judges

Thirty-two new assistant judges were appointed yesterday for the lower courts, increasing the number of lower court judges to 1,714.

The law ministry issued a gazette notification to this effect yesterday after the Supreme Court's approval. According to it, the new judges have qualified the 10th Bangladesh Judicial Service (BJS) examinations.

The ministry also asked the new judges to join office on April 19.

On March 1, a total of 166 assistant judges, who had qualified the 10th BJS examinations, have joined their offices under the SC's approval.

The government has initiated the process of recruiting the new judges in a bid to reduce the existing backlog of cases as 27.5 lakh lawsuits remain pending with the lower courts across the country, according to the law ministry sources.

The Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission had selected the candidates through examinations and recommended appointing them as lower court judges in March, 2017.