Over 40 lakh cases pending with courts
More than 40 lakh cases are now pending trial in different courts of the country.
The number of such cases is increasing by the year. In a span of 15 years, the figure has doubled in the higher and lower courts, according to a Law Commission report.
The commission submitted the report yesterday to the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry.
The report said the main reason for the huge backlog of cases is the shortage of judges.
"The number of judges is only one against 94,444 people in the country," the commission said.
It made several recommendations to resolve the issue.
The report said even though the country's constitution declares that the judiciary will be a separate entity, its independence remains unobtained.
It cited that there are 2,491 cases per judge in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and 5,741 cases per judge in the High Court Division.
In the UK, there is one judge for every 3,186 people while the figure is 10,000 in the USA, 47,619 in India and about 50,000 in Pakistan.
The report stressed the need for taking the initiative to appoint a significant number of judges soon to reduce the backlog of cases.
If at least 5,000 judges are appointed by creating posts on an urgent basis, it will be possible to reduce the number of cases to a tolerable level, it added.
Considering the limited capacity of the state, it is not possible to appoint such a large number of judges in a short time, and if more judges are appointed at a time, their quality may fall. However, at least 500 judges should be appointed every year, the report mentioned.
Awami League MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker presided over the meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
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