Lower courts get judges to speed up trials
Appointment of 166 approved by president, further recruitment underway; aim is to reduce backlog of 27.5 lakh cases
A total of 166 new judges for the lower courts are likely to be appointed this month, sources in the law ministry and Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission (BJSC) said.
The process for recruitment of another 143 is also underway, the commission sources added.
The government has initiated the process of recruiting the new judges in a bid to reduce existing backlog of cases as 27.5 lakh lawsuits remain pending with the lower courts across the country.
Besides, over 400 posts of lower court judges, including some district judges, are now vacant, hampering the judicial functions, the sources said.
The BJSC had selected a total of 207 candidates through examinations and recommended appointing them as lower court judges in March last year.
After receiving the recommendation from the commission, the law ministry sent the details of the candidates to the home ministry for police verification.
The home ministry performed the task and subsequently sent the police verification report of 166 candidates among the selected 207 to the law ministry.
The ministry then forwarded their details to the Prime Minister's Office for facilitating the presidential approval.
The president finalised the appointments of 166 candidates last week and sent them to the law ministry, which will now send proposals regarding posting to the Supreme Court.
After receiving the opinion from the Supreme Court, the law ministry will issue a gazette notification on their appointment and posting.
All these processes might be finished by this month, sources in the law ministry and BJSC said.
The process started in March last year through issuing recruitment circular.
Meanwhile, the BJSC also held viva voce of 632 candidates on December 22 who had qualified in the written test held between July 30 and August 9 last year.