IT is very unfortunate that thousands of women and children have been suffering injustice due to the inefficient and irresponsible workings of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals (WCRPT) in Bangladesh. A special investigation by this newspaper unearthed distressing information that thousands of trial seekers have been waiting for judgement from the Tribunals and have met with only wasted time in the name of ‘extensions’ and resources. Lawyers and court officials deny culpability yet they are the ones that are not helping with the swift dispensation of justice.Investigation findings have confirmed that around 13,000 cases are pending judgement and/or trial with 5 WCRPTs in the country (Tribunal 3 is inactive since the beginning of the year due to the transfer of the judge). The government enacted the Women and Children Repression (Special Provision) Act in 1995 to protect women and children against harmful crimes. Since then, many changes have taken place (including the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act in 2000 made to replace the one in 1995, amended again in 2003) whose sole purpose was to prevent wrongs against the women and children as well as hold wrong-doers accountable for their crimes. Most victims file cases against their husbands over dowry and abuse, yet have not received any relief of justice for several years due to the backlog of cases according to the report. They have instead kept paying the public prosecutors who have only managed to inform them of the extended case dates. The indifference of the judges, law enforcers, officials assigned to investigate the cases, and lawyers, absence of witnesses, manpower shortage in the courts and lack of logistic supports are blamed to be responsible for delay in dispensing of the pending cases. Even though provisions in the act state that if the judge cannot dispose of the case within the stipulated time for the witness reason or other reason, he must seek more time from the High Court and if he fails to do so he will be considered as the illegible one for negligence of his duty. Judges are there to dispense justice in all fairness and that is not the case for the judges presiding in these Tribunals. We have failed in many aspects in protecting the women and children and only succeeded in boasting about promises ‘to make things better’ but not really delivering on such promises. The judges and lawyers in the WCRPT need a wake-up to the public expectations. We do not deny that the law is abused. But justice must not be delayed.
