Gulam Rabbani :
Most of the lawyers across the country have fallen into a financial crisis, as their way of income became narrow after the suspension of the regular court functioning as part of the precautionary measures to prevent the infections of the coronavirus.
Initially the lawyers accepted the closure of the courts during the lockdown period last year or the limited court activities through virtual system from a thinking that the crisis would end soon. But this crisis is becoming protracted now. No one knows when it will end.
In this situation, the lawyers across the country including the Supreme Court lawyers are demanding to open the regular court activities maintaining the health guidelines.
To minimize the crisis many lawyers received loans from the respective bars after the reduction of their income due to the closure of the regular court functioning amid the pandemic. Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said more than four thousand lawyers of the apex court bar have taken
loans from the SCBA fund in the last two years on account of the Covid-19 virus.
Advocate Abdul Baten, President of the Dhaka Bar Association, said around five thousand lawyers of the Dhaka bar applied for loan last year after the court closure following the pandemic. But they could not give loan to more than 1200 lawyers due to the fund shortage.
This is just a fragment of the lawyers’ economic crisis after the court’s regular activities ceased. The same scenarios are prevailing in the other bars across the country. Many lawyers have left their chambers as they could not manage the rent of those during the pandemic period.
The Dhaka Bar President said, “Lawyers are in serious troubles as the courts’ regular activities are closed. Maximum institutions including banks have been opened again following the health guidelines. But the courts are not getting permission to operate regular activities which has thrown the lawyers into deep financial crisis. The lawyers have no alternative without conducting cases in the courts. So we request to the Chief Justice to take initiative to run regular activities in the courts.”
Around 60 thousand lawyers enlisted at the Bangladesh Bar Council, the licensing and regulatory body for lawyers in Bangladesh, are working in the Supreme Court and district level courts across the country. Many of them became jobless after the pandemic had started in March last year.
Later the online court was introduced in May last year, but it functioned on a limited scale. Besides, a big portion of the lawyers are not expert with technology that was needed to conduct cases with the virtual courts.
In the backdrop of the lawyers demand the Chief Justice opened some physical courts along with the virtual courts in the last months last year. But after the starting of the second wave of the coronavirus court functions with physical appearance were again suspended last April.
Barrister Shanjid Siddique, a Supreme Court lawyer, said, “The limited functioning of the courts for the last two months have put many lawyers in financial hardship. As self-employed we do not have the advantage of receiving fixed monthly salary and even the Bar Council has not stepped forward to stand by us during our needs.”
“The lawyers practicing in the district courts are yet to fully adept to the technology. Moreover, the slow speed of internet or technical problems disrupts the hearing. The trial of criminal and civil cases have been suspended in the district and sessions courts and hearing of rule or appeal cases in High Court have been deferred in most cases till opening of regular court. I think the time has come to open courts physically by ensuring compliance with all Covid-19 guidelines. The interest of the lawyers should be taken into account by the decision-makers,” added the lawyer.
