One year of announcement of CJ’s roadmap for judiciary reforms
NN ONLINE:
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement of Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed’s Roadmap for reforms of judiciary.
Significant progress has been made in the implementation of the roadmap, said a Supreme Court press release here today.
Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed assumed the responsibilities of the 25th Chief Justice of Bangladesh on August 11, 2024.
After assuming the responsibilities as the Chief Justice, as an endeavor to restore the people’s lost confidence in the judiciary by bringing transparency and institutional excellence, he delivered an address to the judges of the subordinate courts of the country on 21 September 2024 at the Inner Garden of the main building of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
In his address, Chief Justice outlined a Roadmap for justice sector reforms, where he elaborated in detail on the independence of the judiciary, its separation, and the institutional separation of the judiciary.
He also outlined the framework and action plan of various short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans to ensure meaningful reform of the judiciary of Bangladesh through the implementation of his Roadmap.
In his address, the Chief Justice outlined the necessary reform framework keeping in mind the goals of ensuring the proper fulfillment of the constitutional responsibilities of the judiciary in establishing justice in the country, along with ensuring the independence of the judiciary, including bringing necessary legal and structural reforms to establish a separate Judicial Secretariat for the implementation of the Masdar Hossain case judgment, allocating separate and sufficient budget for the judiciary, formulating a policy regarding the transfer and posting of judges of subordinate courts to ensure transparency, fostering the development of merit in the judiciary through research and training, enacting specific laws for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary like developed countries, and establishing a culture of justice in the country by ensuring transparent and accountable justice services for the justice seekers by eliminating all forms of corruption from the judiciary as soon as possible.
Following from that, the qualitative changes brought about in the judiciary in the last one year since the date of the announcement of the Roadmap under the leadership of the Chief Justice are not merely policy-level paper changes; rather, the steps taken by him have set a new precedent for the effective implementation of the desired reforms in the judiciary.
The description of the initiatives taken by the Chief Justice in implementing his announced Roadmap for justice sector reforms, in building a transparent, efficient, accountable, people-friendly justice system, is presented below.
Enactment of Ordinance regarding Appointment of Judges to the Higher Judiciary:
In continuation of the Roadmap, the Supreme Court took the initiative to enact a law for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.
For this purpose, after deeply analyzing the processes followed in appointing judges to the higher judiciary in developed countries around the world, including neighboring countries, a draft of an ordinance on this matter was prepared, and after obtaining the opinions of the Judges working in both Divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on the said draft, the draft was sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 28 October 2024 as a proposal.
Subsequently, the draft of the ‘Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance, 2025’ was approved in principle in the Advisory Council and the Ordinance was passed on 21 January 2025. Meanwhile, under this Ordinance, the ‘Supreme Judicial Appointment Council’ has been formed with the Chief Justice as its Chairman, and judges of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division have been appointed based on the recommendation of the said Council.
The ‘Supreme Judicial Appointment Council’, chaired by the Chief Justice, has initiated a new era in the appointment process of judges to the higher judiciary of Bangladesh by completing the appointment process based on merit, efficiency, and integrity in a completely transparent process, duly following the appointment process described in the Ordinance.
Supreme Court Secretariat:
On the initiative of the Chief Justice to ensure the institutional separation of the judiciary, a proposal for the formation of a separate Judicial Secretariat from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh was sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 27 October, 2024.
The said proposal included a draft ordinance for the establishment of a separate Secretariat with the aim of fulfilling the purpose of Article 109 of the Constitution and for the proper exercise of supervision and control over the subordinate courts and tribunals by the High Court Division, along with a complete proposal regarding the organogram of the proposed Secretariat and possible reforms of the Rules of Business and Allocation of Business.
It is mentioned that Article 22 of the Constitution declares the separation of the judiciary from the executive as one of the fundamental principles of the state.
Furthermore, according to clause 6(6) of the ‘Interim and Transitional Provisions’ included in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, there is an obligation to implement the provisions of the second part of the Sixth Part of the Constitution relating to subordinate courts as soon as possible.
Therefore, in light of such constitutional obligations, if the proposed separate Judicial Secretariat by the Supreme Court is established, the existing dual administration in matters such as posting, transfer, promotion, discipline, leave of judges of subordinate courts will end, and the actual independence of the judiciary can be ensured.
It is mentioned that meanwhile, on 02 September 2025, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, in a writ petition, has instructed the government to establish a separate Secretariat for the judiciary within the next 03 (three) months. With the positive cooperation of the Interim Government, significant progress has already been made in preparing the necessary legal framework for establishing a separate Secretariat for the judiciary.
Announcement of 12-point directive to bring transparency in delivering justice services:
To ensure transparent and accountable justice services for the justice seekers by eliminating all forms of corruption from the judiciary as soon as possible, the Chief Justice has taken various initiatives since assuming office.
In particular, to improve the service standards of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the Chief Justice gave a 12-point directive on 18 September 2024, and since then, to implement the said 12-point directive as much as possible, monitoring meetings are being held regularly every month at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice.
In these meetings, the concerned officers of the Supreme Court administration report to the Chief Justice about the steps taken by their respective offices to simplify services.
Similar activities have been undertaken in the District Courts as well. As a result, greater transparency and accountability have been ensured in the country’s judiciary.
Launch of Paper Free Bench:
On the initiative of the Chief Justice, multifaceted plans have been taken to bring justice services to the doorsteps of the people. As part of this, from 02 January 2025, a completely paper-free judicial proceedings has started in a Company Bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
For this purpose, an online platform for submitting all papers of that bench online has been prepared under the own supervision and innovation of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
Subsequently, on 20 July 2025, paper-free judicial proceedings started in another Company Bench of the High Court Division. The Chief Justice has plans to conduct paper-free activities in other benches of the Supreme Court gradually.
Introduction of Capacity Test for Providing Legal Aid:
On 25 August 2024, by the order of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, a notification signed by the Registrar General of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh instructed all concerned that, for the sake of establishing the rule of law and justice, it is essential to ensure legal assistance for all accused present in court, so to ensure that no accused present in court is deprived of legal assistance, if there is no lawyer for an accused present in a subordinate court or Tribunal, a lawyer must be appointed from the lawyer panel of Legal Aid for that accused.
Furthermore, the notification instructed all concerned to cooperate so that if a lawyer is appointed for an accused present in court, that lawyer can perform their professional duties unobstructed and without hindrance.
Following the notification issued by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, in a letter issued by the National Legal Aid Services Organization, citing sub-clause (1)(tha) of clause 2 of the National Legal Aid Provision Policy, 2024, all concerned were requested to take necessary measures to provide legal assistance by appointing a lawyer from the Legal Aid lawyer panel, considering the accused as an incapable person if, due to any special circumstance, they are unable to appoint a lawyer.
This initiative taken by the Chief Justice has already been implemented, and the National Legal Aid Services Organization has given necessary instructions to the Legal Aid offices across the country on this matter.
Initiative to Formulate Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules:
The Chief Justice placed special importance on formulating the Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules. In that context, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, by repealing the Bangladesh Judicial Service (Service Formation, Appointment to Service Posts and Temporary Dismissal, Dismissal and Removal) Rules, 2007, formulated the Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules, 2025 on 28 July 2025.
Initiative to Launch Separate Courts according to Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction:
In accordance with the instructions of the Chief Justice, for the purpose of ensuring speedy disposal of cases and fair trial through the establishment of separate courts according to civil and criminal jurisdiction, a letter signed by the Registrar General of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh was sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 21 April 2025 to take necessary steps to separate the District Judgeship and Sessions Division according to civil and criminal jurisdiction and to create the necessary number of posts by changing the organizational structure of the concerned Judgeship and Sessions Division.
Currently, in the subordinate courts of the country, Joint District and Sessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges, and District and Sessions Judges are performing the duties of conducting cases as judges of Civil Appeal, Civil Revision, Criminal Appeal, Criminal Revision, alongside various special courts and tribunals.
As a result, despite the goodwill of the judge, expected case disposal is not possible. This leads to increasing case backlog and delays day by day. Especially in civil cases, delays are being created.
In this context, on the initiative of the Chief Justice, this step was taken out of the necessity to change the organizational structure of the judiciary to facilitate the exercise of separate jurisdiction and to resolve case backlog by establishing separate courts and creating the necessary number of posts. As a result of this initiative of the Chief Justice, on 18 September 2025, a government gazette was issued by Justice Section-4 of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs regarding the reorganization of separate Sessions Divisions in each district of the country.
Launch of Chief Justice Fellowship:
The Chief Justice, in his Roadmap speech, announced the launch of the Chief Justice Fellowship to develop merit in the judiciary and increase the skills of judicial officers.
In that context, a draft of the Chief Justice Fellowship Policy was prepared by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 20 February 2025, which is currently under process.
Increase in the Number of Judges of Subordinate Courts:
The Chief Justice emphasized increasing the number of judges in subordinate courts for speedy disposal of cases and increasing the accessibility of justice services for the justice-seeking people.
Under the sincere supervision of the Chief Justice, the committee formed for the creation of judicial posts in the service formed under the Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules, 2025, has already taken swift action in this regard.
In light of the decision of the committee’s meeting on 02 September 2025, 232 posts in total, including 191 posts at the District and Sessions Judge level, have already been created.
Furthermore, separate letters were sent from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 09 February 2025 AD, 27 February 2025 AD, and 13 March 2025 for appointment to judicial posts in various development authorities, Electricity Court, and City Corporations.
Reconstitution of the Supreme Judicial Council:
Due to the 16th Amendment of the Constitution, the power to remove the Judges of the Supreme Court was vested in the Parliament instead of the Supreme Judicial Council.
Subsequently, although the 16th Amendment was declared illegal by the High Court and Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the review petition on this matter was pending.
When the Appellate Division disposed of the said review application on 20 October 2024 AD, the Supreme Judicial Council regarding the removal of judges was revived.
The three-member Supreme Judicial Council led by the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, has already started functioning.
Following that, when three judges of the High Court Division expressed their intention to resign from their respective posts by letters signed by themselves addressed to the President, their resignation letters were accepted on 19 November 2024.
Furthermore, on 16 October 2024, due to complaints against 12 judges of the High Court Division, the Chief Justice refrained from assigning them to benches. One of them (Justice Shahed Nuruddin) resigned on 30 January 2025 by a letter signed by himself addressed to the President.
Furthermore, two judges (Justice Md. Aminul Islam and Justice S M Masud Hossain Dolon) were not appointed as permanent judges of the High Court Division. They were appointed as Additional Judges of the High Court Division on 31 July 2022.
On 30 July 2024, instead of appointing them as permanent judges, His Excellency the President appointed them as Additional Judges for another six months. Their said extended term ended on 30 January 2025.
Furthermore, two other judges (Justice Md. Ataur Rahman Khan and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das) have already retired. Among them, Justice Md. Ataur Rahman Khan retired on 30 December 2024 and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das retired on 30 January 2025 upon completion of their service tenure.
Additionally, after a full investigation by the Supreme Judicial Council, the President removed two judges. Among them, Justice Khizir Hayat was removed on 18 March 2025 and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman was removed on 21 May 2025.
Most recently, on 07 September 2025, the resignation letter of High Court Division Judge Justice Akhtaruzzaman was accepted by the President. Currently, the Council’s investigation process is ongoing regarding another four (4) judges.
Transfer and Posting Policy:
The formulation of a policy regarding the transfer and posting of judges of subordinate courts to eliminate discrimination found an important place in the justice sector reform Roadmap announced by the Chief Justice.
Following that, a draft policy regarding the transfer and posting of judges of subordinate courts was prepared by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and sent to the Law Ministry for implementation.
Supreme Court Help Line:
On 25 September 2024,a helpline number was launched on the initiative of the Chief Justice to assist any justice seeker or service recipient who faces any obstacle in receiving service from any branch of the Supreme Court Registry or faces any difficulty regarding receiving service. A judicial officer working as an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh manages this helpline and provides necessary assistance to the service recipient. As this helpline gained widespread popularity in a short time, the second helpline of the Supreme Court was launched in January 2025.
This helpline service can be availed from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM every Sunday to Thursday, except on government holidays. Simultaneously, WhatsApp and mobile app services are available on the helpline number.
As of 31 August 2025, 3,072 calls have come to the Supreme Court Helpline from all over the country regarding legal advice, case-related information, and filing complaints. Among them, 1,668 calls were for legal advice. 1,157 calls came to know information about various cases.
Launch of Helpline in Courts across the Country:
On 14 May 2025, the Chief Justice of Bangladesh announced the launch of helplines in all 64 districts and 08 metropolitan areas of the country on the model of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, with the aim of ensuring accessibility to justice services for all citizens of the country and ensuring free flow of information related to justice, and to remove obstacles and various irregularities in receiving judicial services in all subordinate courts or tribunals of the country.
A circular has been issued from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 13 May 2025 with necessary instructions in this regard. To make the district-level helpline service effective, the circular instructed the formation of a three-member committee in each district.
A nominated judicial officer is serving as the representative of this helpline. The three-member committee sends the monthly report of the services provided through the helpline in favor of the justice-seeking people to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh by the 07th (seven) of every month through the District and Sessions Judge of the concerned District Judgeship.
It is mentioned that for the purpose of launching this helpline, a SIM card and a mobile phone have been supplied to the District and Sessions Judge of each District Judgeship in the country from the Supreme Court.
Nationwide Awareness Activities:
The judiciary of Bangladesh has essentially been formed to serve the people of the country. Therefore, with the aim of gaining direct experience about what the people’s expectations are from the judiciary and what the judiciary needs to do to fulfill those expectations or what capabilities the judiciary needs to acquire to fulfill those expectations, the Chief Justice, in 2025, with the assistance of UNDP, organized Regional Conferences on Judicial Independence and Efficiency in all divisional cities of the country. Judges, lawyers, development partners, and various stakeholders participated in these conferences.
These stakeholder meetings are playing an important role as the main basis for creating the practical outline for the implementation of the Roadmap announced by the Chief Justice.Organization of International Seminar titled ‘Upholding Environmental Justice: The Role of Judges for a Sustainable Future’:
On Monday,03 March 2025 at 4:45 PM, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh organized a seminar titled ‘Upholding Environmental Justice: The Role of Judges for a Sustainable Future’ at the Rupshi Bangla Ballroom of Hotel Intercontinental. The Chief Justice of Bangladesh, the Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, was present as the Chief Guest at the seminar.
Furthermore, Mr. Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, Chief Justice of the National High Court of Brazil, was present as a Special Guest. Additionally, the Judges of the Appellate Division and High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and officers of the Supreme Court Registry were present.Judicial Diplomacy and Internationalization of the Justice System:
The Chief Justice has conducted various activities to modernize Bangladesh’s justice system with the aim of elevating Bangladesh’s justice system to one of the most modern justice systems in the world.
In this regard, he has held various meetings, seminars, and undertaken projects with various international development partners such as UNDP, Commonwealth Secretariat, Giz, UNICEF, OHCHR, UNHCR, JICA, European Union (EU) for the purpose of establishing the institutional independence of Bangladesh’s justice system. These foreign development partners have assured that they will stand by the Chief Justice in the effort to establish the institutional independence of Bangladesh’s judiciary.
The Chief Justice has provided leadership not only within the country but also internationally on the proper implementation of the law in establishing justice and protecting people’s rights and the role of the judiciary in this regard.
Reconstitution of Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission: The Chief Justice placed special importance on the economic independence of judges in his Roadmap speech.
Following that, on the initiative of the Chief Justice, an initiative was taken to reconstitute the Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission, and for this purpose, on 06 August 2025, he nominated the Justice S M Emdadul Haque of the Appellate Division as the Chairman of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission.
Furthermore, on the initiative of the Chief Justice, a letter was sent from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 13 August 2025 regarding the payment of 30% judicial allowance for judges of subordinate courts from the existing pay scale, which is currently under process at the Finance Ministry.Initiative to Provide Judges with Interest-Free Vehicle Monetization Facility:
The Chief Justice took the initiative to provide judges with an interest-free vehicle monetization facility similar to officers of other government departments, and for this purpose, a letter was sent from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to the Finance Ministry on 01 December 2024. As a result, on 12 December 2024, a policy was formulated regarding providing interest-free vehicle monetization facilities in favor of judicial officers.
Ensuring Security of Judges including Court Premises: The Chief Justice has taken multifaceted steps to ensure the security of the premises of courts located across the country and of judges working in the courts.
A notification was issued by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 28 November 2024 for this purpose. Furthermore, instructions were issued from the office of the Chief Adviser on 15 December 2025 instructing to ensure the security of courts and judges working in the courts.Reform of the International Crimes Tribunal:
On Tuesday,07 January 2024, the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, inaugurated the reformed main building and courtroom of the International Crimes Tribunal. During the inauguration, he said that a new era begins with the inauguration of the reformed main building and courtroom of the International Crimes Tribunal for conducting the trial proceedings of the genocide and crimes against humanity committed in July-August 2024.
He expressed the hope that this historic establishment, which holds the great tradition of being known as ‘Dhaka High Court’ or ‘Old High Court Building’ in the judicial history of this land, will be fulfilled to a new dimension through bringing transparency in the trial proceedings of the genocide and crimes against humanity committed in July-August 2024, following proper legal process and the eternal principles of justice.Providing Computers to Chowki Courts across the Country:
The modernization of justice services and ensuring justice services for the marginalised population of the country in the shortest possible time found an important place in the justice sector reform Roadmap announced by the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.
In that context, the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, gave instructions to supply necessary desktop computers from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh as part of the infrastructural development of the courts to ensure the desired justice services for the justice seekers coming to the Chowki Courts located in various remote areas of the country and to increase the capacity of those Chowki Courts. In light of the said instructions of the Chief Justice, on 02 July 2025, a total of 71 desktop computers have been supplied for use in the courtrooms and offices of 40 Chowki Courts in the country.
It is mentioned that currently, judicial activities are conducted in a total of 40 Chowki Courts in 23 districts of Bangladesh. The activities of civil and criminal courts are conducted in these Chowki Courts located in relatively remote areas.
Judicial officers working in these courts hold ranks such as Senior Assistant Judge, Senior Judicial Magistrate, Joint District Judge, and Additional District Judge. The computers supplied by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh will bring dynamism to the activities of the Chowki Courts.Supplying Computers to Subordinate Courts:
Since assuming office as the 25th Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 11 August 2024, the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, has, under his instructions, supplied a total of 400 desktop computers to the District Courts from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh so far, aiming to bring dynamism to the judicial work of the country’s courts.
Furthermore, during this period, 120 judicial officers have been provided with laptop computers by the Supreme Court.The progress made in the judiciary under the leadership of the Chief Justice in the one year since the announcement of the justice sector reform Roadmap by the Chief Justice is not limited to only administrative and technological development; rather, it is a clear reflection of restoring public confidence and realizing the concept of justice.
It is expected that if this continuity is maintained, the justice system of Bangladesh will be able to reach world-class heights as a more efficient, transparent, and people-friendly justice system in the coming days.