Opening a new chapter in the country鈥檚 judicial history, a High Court bench is all set to begin paper free judicial proceedings from January 5.
The bench, designated for looking into the matters related to company law, was scheduled to start the process from Thursday, but it delayed as all activities of the Supreme Court remained suspended on that day in honour of late adviser of the interim government and former attorney general AF Hassan Ariff.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed announced a roadmap to modernise the judiciary, reduce harassment of the people, and make the judiciary free from influence.
鈥業n line with the roadmap, progress has already been made and new ideas have been generated among the people, including the legal community,鈥� senior jurist Salauddin Dolan told media.
鈥楶aper-free judicial proceedings by preparing a platform for submitting all papers online is the beginning of a new chapter,鈥� said Supreme Court spokesperson Md Shafikul Islam.
Under the supervision and innovation of the apex court, an online platform for submitting all the papers of that bench had already been prepared, he said.
CJ Syed Refaat Ahmed had declared making all benches paper-free in phases by 2025. He hoped that in the long run, paper-free judicial activities would also be conducted in the district courts, Shafikul Islam added.
The chief justice on September 21 gave a road map for the reform of the judiciary. He announced zero tolerance against corruption in judiciary and stressed the need for preparing a roadmap to regain the public confidence through establishing transparency and integrity in the judicial process.
In the roadmap, Refaat Ahmed announced various short, medium and long-term plans to ensure meaningful reforms in the judiciary.
As part of the implementation of the plans, significant progress has already been made to establish a separate secretariat for the judiciary, engage an independent body to appoint apex court judges, and formulate policy for transfer and posting of the judges of the subordinate courts.
The chief justice also committed to implement e-judiciary. Necessary initiatives are being taken to bring the judicial process of the country鈥檚 apex court and district courts completely under e-judiciary, according to SC spokesperson.
