Dhaka: Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed today announced that significant progress has been made in the establishment of the Supreme Court (SC) Secretariat. He made this statement during a regional seminar titled ‘Ensuring the Independence of the Judiciary and Improving the Efficiency of Judicial Service Delivery’, which was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Supreme Court and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the seminar was chaired by High Court Division Justice Farah Mahbub, with UNDP’s Stefan Liller delivering the welcome speech. The event was attended by judges from various tribunals in Chattogram, as well as those from the Chattogram District and Sessions Judge Court, Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Labour Court, Chattogram City Corporation, and Chattogram Custom House.
Chief Justice Ahmed highlighted that following the announcement of the judicial reform roadmap on September 21, 2024, a draft has been approved to form the Judicial Appointment Council. This council aims to ensure the independence of the judiciary. He further mentioned that the draft ordinance for appointing high court judges has been approved by the Council of Advisers.
He also noted that the Supreme Court is developing policies for the transfer and promotion of subordinate court judges. Additionally, the introduction of the Chief Justice Fellowship aims to enhance the capacity of judicial officers. The judiciary is also advancing towards digitalization, with paperless operations already underway in the Company Bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.