Gulam Rabbani :
The Law Ministry has taken an initiative to appoint judges in both the divisions of Supreme Court without first formulating a detailed guideline how to select judges— that is what will be their qualifications and how their party affiliation and other identity standard will be treated in their selection , legal experts say.
They said, Supreme Court is facing acute shortage of judges for a long and it needs to be sorted out soon. But it is also true that candidates considered on their party affiliation basis and with lower qualification sidetracking meritorious candidates are making selection highly flawed lowering the image of the country’s judiciary.
The ongoing system in which the Law Ministry virtually selects judges mainly based on political consideration lacks transparency and this in turn creates controversy on acceptability of many judges.
There was no provision in the Constitution of 1972 for the appointment of the judges. On August 20 in 1978, former Presidet Ziaur Rahman brought the provision of recruiting judges by adding Article 95(2)(c) in the Constitution with a military decree.
The Article said, “A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge unless he is a citizen of Bangladesh and has such qualifications
as may be prescribed by law for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court.” But this law specifying the qualifications has not been formulated in the last 40 years. Every government ignored it on their own political advantage.
On April 3 the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs urged the law ministry to formulate a policy to recruit judge in the Supreme Court in a meeting expressing dissatisfaction as to why it remained ignored so long.
After the meeting President of the committee Abdul Matin Khasru said, a policy is needed to appoint competent judge in the Supreme Court. Constitution has the direction in this regard. He said the Law Ministry claiming for long it is working on this issue but nothing is visible yet.
When contacted, Law Minister Advocate Anisul Huq declined to make any comment over the issue. But as per his recent claim to the media the ministry is working on the issue and the policy may be available at the end of this year.
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain at his felicitation programme on February 4 also raised the issue drawing attention of the government for formulating the policy under Article 95(2)(c) of the Constitution. It is inevitable under the present context, he said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on March 29 in 2018 also reiterated demand for formulation of the guideline for recruitment of judges of the Supreme Court.
“There is no second option than formulating a guideline for appointment of SC judges in order to ensure transparency and neutrality,” SCBA President Advocate Zainul Abedin said at a press conference on that occasion.
Advocate Zainul further said, they are hearing the government is taking initiative to appoint new judges in the Supreme Court But there is no indication that such guideline is being formulated at this moment.
The Parliament and the Law Commission raised the issue on several times. Following this the government had taken an initiative in 2014 for the first time. But even in last four years the draft of the law was not finalized. Sources said, Law Ministry has already started the process of recruiting judges again without addressing the crucial issue.
Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said, “In our country, the government does not want the freedom and independence of the judiciary. They always try to control it. In the past days, successive governments appointed judges on political consideration. That is why the detailed guidelines were not formulated.”
Sources said, 10 judges were appointed in the High Court Division on February 9, 2015. Then the number of the judges in the higher judiciary was 105. Among them 8 judges were in the Appellate Division and 97 judges in the High Court Division. But no judge was recruited in last three years. As a result, the Appellate Division has only 4 judges now while 80 judges are at work in the High Court Division.
Following the appointment of the new Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, new initiative has been taken to recruit 4 to 5 judges in the Appellate Division and 12 to 15 in the High Court. But absence of the guideline is going to make such recruitment open to question again on transparency ground.
The Law Ministry has taken an initiative to appoint judges in both the divisions of Supreme Court without first formulating a detailed guideline how to select judges— that is what will be their qualifications and how their party affiliation and other identity standard will be treated in their selection , legal experts say.
They said, Supreme Court is facing acute shortage of judges for a long and it needs to be sorted out soon. But it is also true that candidates considered on their party affiliation basis and with lower qualification sidetracking meritorious candidates are making selection highly flawed lowering the image of the country’s judiciary.
The ongoing system in which the Law Ministry virtually selects judges mainly based on political consideration lacks transparency and this in turn creates controversy on acceptability of many judges.
There was no provision in the Constitution of 1972 for the appointment of the judges. On August 20 in 1978, former Presidet Ziaur Rahman brought the provision of recruiting judges by adding Article 95(2)(c) in the Constitution with a military decree.
The Article said, “A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge unless he is a citizen of Bangladesh and has such qualifications
as may be prescribed by law for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court.” But this law specifying the qualifications has not been formulated in the last 40 years. Every government ignored it on their own political advantage.
On April 3 the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs urged the law ministry to formulate a policy to recruit judge in the Supreme Court in a meeting expressing dissatisfaction as to why it remained ignored so long.
After the meeting President of the committee Abdul Matin Khasru said, a policy is needed to appoint competent judge in the Supreme Court. Constitution has the direction in this regard. He said the Law Ministry claiming for long it is working on this issue but nothing is visible yet.
When contacted, Law Minister Advocate Anisul Huq declined to make any comment over the issue. But as per his recent claim to the media the ministry is working on the issue and the policy may be available at the end of this year.
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain at his felicitation programme on February 4 also raised the issue drawing attention of the government for formulating the policy under Article 95(2)(c) of the Constitution. It is inevitable under the present context, he said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on March 29 in 2018 also reiterated demand for formulation of the guideline for recruitment of judges of the Supreme Court.
“There is no second option than formulating a guideline for appointment of SC judges in order to ensure transparency and neutrality,” SCBA President Advocate Zainul Abedin said at a press conference on that occasion.
Advocate Zainul further said, they are hearing the government is taking initiative to appoint new judges in the Supreme Court But there is no indication that such guideline is being formulated at this moment.
The Parliament and the Law Commission raised the issue on several times. Following this the government had taken an initiative in 2014 for the first time. But even in last four years the draft of the law was not finalized. Sources said, Law Ministry has already started the process of recruiting judges again without addressing the crucial issue.
Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said, “In our country, the government does not want the freedom and independence of the judiciary. They always try to control it. In the past days, successive governments appointed judges on political consideration. That is why the detailed guidelines were not formulated.”
Sources said, 10 judges were appointed in the High Court Division on February 9, 2015. Then the number of the judges in the higher judiciary was 105. Among them 8 judges were in the Appellate Division and 97 judges in the High Court Division. But no judge was recruited in last three years. As a result, the Appellate Division has only 4 judges now while 80 judges are at work in the High Court Division.
Following the appointment of the new Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, new initiative has been taken to recruit 4 to 5 judges in the Appellate Division and 12 to 15 in the High Court. But absence of the guideline is going to make such recruitment open to question again on transparency ground.
