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Strategic disposal of long pending case-backlog :

Redeeming commoners confidence on the subordinate judiciary

Strategic disposal of long pending case-backlog :
Redeeming commoners confidence on the subordinate judiciary


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SLIGHTLY diverging from Gladstones legal maxim justice delayed is justice
denied and equitable maxim of delay defeats equity we offer the stance that
justice may be delayed but must not be eventually denied in the administration
of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied signifies that if legal redress is available
for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not accommodating in a timely
fashion, it is effectively the same as having no redress at all. The phrase as
propounded by William Ewart Gladstone has become a rallying cry for legal
reformers who view courts or governments as acting too slowly in resolving legal
issues either because the existing system is too complex or overburdened, or because
the issue or party in question lacks political favour. Nevertheless we have another
popular saying i.e. better late than ever. Now question arises- should we limit our
perception exclusively within the ambit of Gladstones maxim? Arguably, if in any
case justice can never be delivered to the litigant people we may accept the
contention that justice is denied. But what will be our position if despite some delay
caused by few inexorable factors in administration of justice the expected justice can
finally be dispensed with the litigant people. Nonetheless, is it not better to get
expected justice albeit in a latter point of time than being completely deprived of
getting it. It is a prime fact that the shortage in the quantity of Judicial Officers in the
subordinate Courts is the principal cause of delay in disposal of litigations but it is
not the only reason. The delay-factor in disposal of litigations in our subordinate
Courts is not a creature of any single phenomenon or a single actor. Rather this factor
has its root in multifarious phenomena and several actors. So far as our perception of
prevalent legal practice and procedure in the administration of justice in the
subordinate Courts is concerned the delay-factor which acts as the cardinal obstacle
in speedy disposal of long-pending litigations is not easy to wipe out. So, it is
required to be ensured by all concerned with the dispensation of justice in the
subordinate Courts that even if justice is delayed for some inevitable reasons it must
not be denied ultimately.
This write-up is concerned with the adoption and implementation of some effective
strategies by introducing a system within the purview of existing legal framework for
speedy disposal of long-pending litigations in the subordinate Courts of Bangladesh.
It is worth mentioning here that success had come in some district Courts of
Bangladesh by effective implementation of these strategies. The core theme of these
strategies is to provide the litigant people the Optimum Justice by way of enforcing
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Strategic disposal of long pending case-backlog :
Redeeming commoners confidence on the subordinate judiciary

a three-fold combined powers comprising of three significant actors of administration
of justice in the subordinate Courts. These three significant actors of justice
dispensation system are the judges, lawyers and supporting staff of the Courts. The
balanced coordination of these three actors in any given judicial structure can play
most significant role in speedy disposal of litigations. At the outset, it is imperative
for the Judges who are invested with the sacred duty of adjudication to have integrity,
discretion, judiciousness and diligence. Without the sincerity and attention of the
Judges the speedy disposal of long pending litigations is not at all possible. The
second most significant actor in the process of speedy disposal is the lawyers engaged
to plead in the litigations. In spite of the Judges sincere effort, speedy disposal of
proceedings will be next to impossible without the earnest co-operation of the
concerned lawyers. The lawyers can be successfully encouraged for participating in
the process of speedy disposal if they can be reminded of their legal obligation to
establish their clients legal right and if they can be motivated to act in accordance
with their social responsibility as an advanced part of the citizenry. The third most
significant actor for speedy disposal of litigations are the supporting Court-staff
engaged in different sections of the Courts. Their skill, honesty and sincerity are also
very important factors in the process of speedy disposal of the proceedings. That is
why all the departments of a judgeship must be made dynamic by generating
motivation to each of the Court-staff. The infirmity or negligence of any of the
aforesaid actors can hinder the speedy disposal. It is argued that a comprehensive
justice system can be developed in the subordinate judiciary through fortifying the
departments of a judgeship and through the consolidated participation of the Judges,
Lawyers and Court-staff in the process of speedy disposal of litigations. By ensuring
the balanced co-ordination of three significant actors of the administration of justice a
twofold system was implemented in few district Courts for the speedy disposal of
litigations. The system comprises two phases.
The management of individual Courts is the first phase of the strategy adopted for the
speedy disposal of litigations. Firstly, several conferences can be arranged integrating
the judges of all tiers of the district Courts where the Judges can be motivated and
some guidelines should be rendered to them for the speedy disposal. As a part of the
Court Management motivational sessions and training program can be organized for
the Court-staff for building their capacity. As a part of this mechanism, special
attention should be put to the important departments of the district Courts. One of the
important departments of district Court is Nezarat Department(Process Serving
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Strategic disposal of long pending case-backlog :
Redeeming commoners confidence on the subordinate judiciary

Wing). In our country one of the cardinal reasons behind the delay in speedy disposal
of litigations is the improper service of summons. If the summonses are not duly
served then because of its consequence not only the disposal of the litigation becomes
delayed but also the party without the knowledge of whom the judgment of any
litigation is pronounced becomes severely prejudiced. Under a stringent monitoring
system by the Judge-in-charge of Nezarat mentionable achievement will come in the
field of service of summons. Copying department is another important department
which is closely related to the adjudication system. No Appeal, Review, Revision or
Misc. Case can be instituted within prescribed time if the copying department fails to
deliver certified copies within time as prescribed by law. It is the legal right of the
parties to any Judicial Proceeding to know the result of his litigation. In accordance
with Civil Rules and Orders(CRO) all the pending petitions for certified copies can
be disposed of rapidly and delivered from concerned copying department within few
working days under the monitoring and direction of the Judge-in-charge of that
department. In this way by perfect Court Management all the departments of the
judgeship can be made well-organized for being capable to function for the process of
speedy disposal of litigations .
The management of Judicial Proceedings is another but more significant stage of the
system adopted for the speedy disposal of litigations. In the advent of Case
Management, firstly, initiative can be adopted to fix a tentative point of time for the
disposal of each case by analyzing the case records and preparing a priority list to that
effect. Subsequently definite point of time can be fixed for each litigation. The point
of time which is fixed for the disposal of a particular litigation may be affixed with
the title page of those case records which will ultimately encourage the learned
judges and lawyers to try their best to meet the target for speedy disposal of the
litigations. By introducing this system all the pending litigations can be finally
disposed of. In this thriving project of speedy disposal of long pending litigations in
district Courts judicial officers from all the tiers should contribute to their best. It is
noteworthy that with the successful implementation of the aforesaid method not only
the listed long pending litigations will be disposed of but also the disposal rate of all
sorts of litigations can be increased to a greater extent.
If the aforesaid system can be effectively implemented in the district Courts of
Bangladesh for speedy disposal of litigations then backlogs of long pending
litigations can be off-loaded to a bigger extent and the inalienable right of the
citizenry and nationals of the country to get justice within reasonable time can be
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Strategic disposal of long pending case-backlog :
Redeeming commoners confidence on the subordinate judiciary

ensured. This strategic reduction of the existing case-surfeit may be proved as a
effective tool for redeeming the confidence of the countrymen on the subordinate
judiciary.

Mohammad Nayeem Firoz & Naurin Aktar Kankon
(The writers are respectively Senior Assistant Judge and
Metropolitan Magistrate in Judges Court and Metropolitan
Magistracy of Chittagong)