Bangladesh News

The government is planning to appoint over 100 assistant judges to the lower judiciary in addition to 207 whose appointments are now under process.

The law ministry sources said only at the entry level judicial officials are appointed to the post of assistant judges while the other tiers are filled through promotion.

According to sources, about 400 posts of the lower court judges have remained vacant for more than seven years affecting people seeking justice across the country.

Of them 320 posts are for assistant and senior assistant judges and the rest are for the higher tiers of judges — joint, additional and district judges — the sources said, adding that a total of 1,146 judges are now discharging judicial functions in the lower courts across the country.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed has recently told The Daily Star that new judges will be recruited through the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The government is trying to find out the reasons behind vacancies in the lower judiciary, he said, adding that they are very sincere about ensuring it so that litigants do not face any trouble getting justice, he said.

The process of appointments of 207 new judges began in November in 2008 when the number of vacant posts of assistant judges was the same, an official concerned said.

The official further said that most of the judges are functioning at the courts where the number of pending cases is more.

Sources said the judicial posts are lying vacant because of several reasons, including non-recruitment of judges during the regime of the BNP-led government, and separation of the magistracy.

The executive magistrates earlier discharging judicial functions were absorbed in the administrative posts after the separation of the magistracy through the separation of judiciary from the executive, sources added.

Besides, some of the judges either left the jobs or were transferred to other services on deputation thus creating vacancies in the judiciary.

Meanwhile, JSC sources said the commission had already selected 926 candidates out of total 2,153 through a preliminary test. The selected candidates are now taking a written test of 1,000 marks and the recruitment process will be completed within two months.

In May last year, the government appointed 394 assistant judges to courts across the country following separation of the judiciary.