Applicants must be 45 years or above
The interim government on Tuesday issued a gazette notification for the Supreme Court Judge Appointment Ordinance, 2025, introducing a framework for establishing the Supreme Judicial Appointment Council to oversee judicial appointments.
The ordinance, published by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, aims to assist the chief justice in making Supreme Court appointments in consultation with the president, in a 鈥榮trengthened鈥�, 鈥榚ffective鈥�, and 鈥榯ransparent鈥� manner.
According to the gazette, the Supreme Judicial Appointment Council will be chaired by the chief justice.
Six other members of the council will be the senior-most judge of the Appellate Division, two senior-most High Court judges, one elevated from the bar and the other from the lower聽 judiciary, a retired Appellate Division judge nominated by the council chairperson, the attorney general, who serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Bangladesh Bar Council, a university law professor or legal expert nominated by the council chairperson.
The council will evaluate candidates based on constitutional qualifications under Article 95(2)(c) and additional criteria.
The additional qualifications for candidates include a minimum age of 45 years, educational and legal background, professional experience, integrity and commitment to the rule of law.
Applicants below the age of 45 will be disqualified for appointment as additional High Court judges.
The council is authorised to collect necessary information on candidates, invite nominations through prescribed forms or public notices, and shortlist candidates for judicial positions.
It also can recommend additional High Court judges exceeding the vacant posts in the Appellate Division, while preparing a list of senior High Court judges proposed for elevation.
The ordinance includes provisions allowing the judicial appointment council to directly recommend appointments to the Appellate Division following the rules for appointing additional High Court judges.
The council also bars certain members, including High Court judges and the attorney general, from participating in discussions related to their potential elevation or regularisation.
The ordinance mandates the president to appoint judges within 15 days of receiving recommendations from the chief justice.
If further examination is required, the president can return the recommendations, extending the timeline by an additional 15 days.
The chief justice is responsible for determining the required number of judges for both the High Court and the Appellate Division and informing the president of the need for new appointments.
The council can recommend regularisation of additional High Court judges.
The ordinance fulfils a constitutional requirement introduced by the Fifth Amendment in 1978, which added Article 95(2)(c) mandating laws for Supreme Court judge qualifications. Successive governments, however, failed to enact such legislation, allegedly to facilitate political or nepotistic appointments.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed urged the interim government to frame the ordinance as part of his broader judicial reform agenda.
This ordinance is expected to bring long-overdue transparency and accountability to the process of judicial appointments.
