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Law Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul has announced that the Ministry of Law is working towards three key goals: ensuring quick and low-cost case resolutions and protecting human rights. As part of this initiative, the government will appoint three judges at the district level to provide legal aid, effective from July 1, 2025.
Speaking at a consultation meeting on the preliminary draft of the ‘Legal Aid Ordinance’ at the National Legal Aid Services Organization office on Saturday (June 14), Dr. Nazrul shared these plans.
He highlighted that approximately 4.3 million cases are currently pending in the country’s courts, with the backlog continuously growing. When the judiciary was separated from the executive on November 1, 2007, there were 1.57 million pending cases. Addressing this backlog is a significant challenge for the government. To tackle this, the Law Ministry is focusing on three reforms: swift and affordable case disposal, ensuring justice, and relieving people from the burden of prolonged litigation.
Dr. Nazrul noted that around 500,000 cases are filed annually, but only 35,000 are resolved through legal aid. The government is now taking steps to expand the scope of legal aid to settle 100,000 to 200,000 cases per year. To achieve this, three judges will be appointed in each district instead of one, and private spaces will be rented for case hearings. This initiative is expected to reduce the number of new cases filed by 40 percent annually.
The decision will be implemented starting July 1, 2025, the Law Adviser confirmed.
AI/MR
