The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Law Ministry has finalised the draft of a new law to set up separate Secretariats for the Supreme Court and the Election Commission.

The law will be sent to the Council of Advisers soon for approval.

Disclosing this, Adviser for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Advocate AF Hassan Ariff yesterday said the Government would establish separate Secretariats for the Supreme Court and the Election Commission (EC) much ahead of the general elections.

He said this while inaugurating a national conference on 'Model Legal Aid in Bangladesh' at the Bangla-desh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city.

He expressed the optimism that the Caretaker Government would be able to bring about a progressive reform of the justice-delivery system and strengthen the legal system to the extent that no elected Government could revert them.

Hassan Ariff said future elected Government would get a strong legal system and institutional framework to ensure rule of law in the country.

"Our Government is committed to progressive justice system reform and to strengthening the rule of law," he said, adding that a strong, efficient and publicly respected justice system was essential for good governance in a modern country. He said, the Caretaker Government has taken many necessary steps towards strengthening the rule of law in the country, including a strong anti-corruption drive.

He also named the Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive control and announcement of a National Human Rights Commission as major contributions of the Government.

Replying to a question, the Law Adviser expressed the hope that the political parties would arrive at a consensus during the political dialogue that the country would not return to pre-January 11 (2007) situation (politics of confrontation).

"The political leaders will have to commit to the nation, during the dialogue, that they would not go back to the pre-1/11 situation, "he said.

He avoided a direct reply when asked to comment on Azam J Chowdhury's statement that he did not directly file a case against detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He, however, hastened to add saying, " The Court can include anybody in a case during the trial.

Hassan Ariff termed the conference on 'Model Legal Aid in Bangladesh' timely event since many poor and disadvantaged people still do not have access to justice to vindicate their rights.

"Unfortunately, many are deprived of basic services, which comprises their entitlement to fundamental human rights, dignity and justice," he said in a frank admission.

He said ensuring the access to justice for the poor was a collective responsibility of all stakeholders, including the lawyers, NGOs and judges in particular in the justice-delivery system.

He noted that one of these stakeholders is Government and the Government in 2000 addressed this responsibility with passage of the Legal Aid Service Act, which established a scheme for delivering legal aid through district legal aid committees.

"This was a good and modest start-but much more remains to be done," the Law Adviser said.

He expressed his gratitude to the government of Canada for providing financial and technical assistance in developing legal-aid administration in Bangladesh.

The inaugural session was presided over by Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs secretary-in-charge Kazi Habibul Awal. Canadian High Commissioner Barbara Richardson was present as special guest.

National Project Director-in-Charge, CIDA (Bangladesh) Legal Reform Project, Khademul Islam M Belal, Deputy Project Director Nasreen Begum, legal-aid specialist Ms Chantal Tie and Director of National Legal Aid Services Organisation Hussain Shaheed Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.

The Canadian High Commissioner Barbara Richardson, told the conference that her government was committed to making an effective justice-delivery system in Bangladesh by providing legal, financial and technical assistance.

Describing the progress of the project as "significant", she said the cooperation in this regard would continue.

She disclosed that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has committed to provide $15,000,000(CND) for the 5-year project of Bangladesh Legal Reform.

The inaugural session was told that the Government allocated Tk 3,70,00,000 for legal assistance to the National Legal Aid fund. Of the amount, Tk 3,16,79,000 was distributed to the District Legal Aid Committees. According to the report of 55 district committees out of 61 districts, a total of about Tk 3 crore was spent as lawyers' remuneration and other ancillary purposes.

As a result, some 56,211 poor and disadvantaged people, including women and children, had been rendered legal aid services. Besides, some 1020 persons had been provided legal aid services through 890 jail appeals in the Supreme Court.

The Law Secretary-in-charge in his presidential address underscored the need for an institutional setup along with supporting staff and logistic facilities to effectively face the challenge of access to justice for the poor and disadvantaged people.

Judges of lower Courts, Government officials, lawyers and representatives of NGOs participated in the conference.