10 judges for a million people in Bangladesh

Addressing the phenomenal growth of population and inadequate number of judges as primary reason for huge backlog of cases, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain yesterday said on an average 2,125 cases are pending with each judge in the country. 

“In 2017, each judge in Bangladesh disposed of almost 700 cases,” he said, while speaking as chief guest at the launching programme of the website of National Justice Audit in Dhaka.

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Law ministry of Bangladesh and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a German organisation, jointly held the programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Dhaka. 

The chief justice said that Bangladesh has 10 judges for a million people, whereas in the USA it is 107, in Canada it is 75, in England it is 51, in Australia it is 41, and in India it is 18.

“In Bangladesh, the pending cases are almost 3.4 million against only 1,647 judges. In India, on an average, 1,350 cases are pending with each judge who disposes of 516 cases per year,” he said.

The chief justice said Bangladesh's prisons are severely congested and overcrowded mainly with under-trial prisoners.

“I firmly believe the findings of the Justice Audit will assist us in holding speedy trial of criminal cases, thus reducing the backlog to a significant extent. This will certainly contribute to easing the problem of overcrowding of prisons in Bangladesh,” he added.

Law Minister Anisul Huq, who presided over the programme, said National Justice Audit will play an effective role in qualitative development of the country's judicial system and reducing the backlog of cases.

Law Secretary ASSM Zahirul Haque Dulal and Michael Schultheiss, deputy head of mission, German Embassy, among others, spoke on the occasion.