‘Virtual courts have significantly reduced overcrowding in jails’
Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said the virtual court system has significantly reduced overcrowding in jails during the pandemic.
"The Appellate Division has disposed of more than 7,000 cases in less than five months in 2020, while subordinate courts settled 1,47,339 bail petitions in just three months, all virtually. In fact, the virtual court system has significantly reduced overcrowding in our prisons during the pandemic," he said.
He was addressing a virtual meeting of Commonwealth Law Ministers and Attorneys General on "Legal Impact of Covid-19" with Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland in the chair.
Anisul said the law ministry continued to successfully deliver free legal aid services to the poor and disadvantaged people of Bangladesh.
"More than 2,00,000 free legal aid services were delivered to the poor and helpless justice seekers through dedicated national helpline and virtual methods," he said.
"Our judges, magistrates, public prosecutors and legal aid lawyers across the country received capacity building and skill training to conduct virtual court proceedings. Given our low Covid-19 incidence, regular courts have also been resumed in parallel with virtual courts, where dedicated monitoring cell keeps track of health conditions of judges and prosecutors," the minister said.
He said there is no legal barriers to equitable access to medicines and Covid-19 vaccines for any Bangladeshi citizen. "The Communicable Diseases (Prevention, Control and Eradication) Act, 2018 successfully protects the rights of citizens to access medicines and equipment without prejudice," he added.
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