Govt decides to amend civil procedure code

The interim government yesterday in principle decided to amend the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) including the introduction of provisions for issuing summons through telephone, text messages and other modern methods.

The move to change CPC, formulated during British rule, was part of implementing recommendations from the Judicial Reform Commission, said, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, environment, forest and climate change adviser, at a press conference after the advisory council meeting.

"In Bangladesh, there's a saying that if you have enmity with someone, file a land case against them, and it won't be resolved even in three generations. To ensure it doesn't take three generations but rather one, amendments to the CPC were approved."

The amendment would reduce the time and cost of litigation, she said.

Previously, after a case verdict, a separate execution petition had to be filed to implement the verdict.

Now, the execution petition will be included with the verdict itself.

Additionally, limits will be set on the number of times extensions can be requested. The penalty for filing false cases has been increased from Tk 20,000 to Tk 50,000, she said.

Also at the meeting, it was decided to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) 1992, making Bangladesh the first country in Asia to do so.

In managing transboundary watersheds, there are two laws of the United Nations: the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997 and the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) 1992.

Although the Water Convention 1992 was adopted targeting the countries of the EU, it was made open for all countries in 2016, Rizwana said, adding that 11 countries outside of the EU (mostly African countries) signed the convention so far.

Asked about the National Citizen Party's request to the Election Commission to extend the deadline for applying for party registration by at least 90 more days, Rizwana said that "it is the party's political stance".

Asked whether the deadline extension would affect the interim government's announcement that the next election would be held between December and June next year, she said: "How the NCP fulfils or resolves its political demand is up to the party. I don't see any reason for this to conflict with the government's election-related announcement."