CJ, minister differ on use of ADR

Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain and Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday differed on the government's plan to amend the relevant laws for disposal of both criminal and civil cases through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
ADR system can be effective in disposing of family-related cases but not criminal cases, the chief justice said as the law minister disclosed the government plan to make ADR mandatory for disposal of both criminal and civil cases.
Under this system, cases are disposed of outside the courts through mutual agreements between the lawyers of both the sides.
The chief justice and the minister were speaking as chief guest and special guest respectively at the 22nd annual general meeting of Bangladesh Woman Judges' Association (BWJA) at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital.
The minister said the government is going to amend the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Civil Procedure Code (CPC) so that both criminal and civil cases are disposed of through ADR to expedite disposal of pending cases.
But the chief justice said, "If a judge is much interested to get every case outside the court, it may give a bad signal. We may get a bad message or the learned judges may be misunderstood.”
Justice Muzammel said the learned citizens of the country will of course express their opinions on the issue. “But we as judges cannot afford to be sentimental, or take any strong or rigid views. But we have to dispense justice in accordance with law, law and law only," he added.
The registrar of the Supreme Court told this correspondent that around 19 lakh cases are now pending with the lower courts across the country, and most of those are of criminal nature.
The chief justice told the meeting that the judges should perform their duties in such a manner that nobody can say the court is not operating properly. It is a judge's duty to keep the court and its environment free from corruption, he said, adding that honesty is the biggest quality and qualification of a judge.
The law minister said some provisions in the CrPC and CPC are creating the huge backlog of cases and obstructing the trial proceedings. The government seeks to amend those.
Others who spoke at the meeting include Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice M Imman Ali, Justice Mohammed Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed and Justice Md Shamsul Huda of the Supreme Court, and judges of different district courts. BWJA President Jasmine Anwar was in the chair.