E-Judiciary

Introduction: The judicial system of Bangladesh has not grown overnight or in any particular
period of history. It passed through various stages and has been gradually developed as a
continuous historical process. A well-functioning judiciary is a crucial determinant of a country's
overall development. It is widely understood that a judiciary effective in enforcing the rule of
law would not only be conducive to trade, financing and investment but would also promote
social peace and trust. To establish an effective and well-functioning judiciary system, e-
judiciary system has recently introduced in Bangladesh which might be a promising sector of
digital Bangladesh.

What is e-judiciary system: The 21st century has witnessed tremendous technological
developments in different fields throughout the world. In Bangladesh, the present government of
Bangladesh has promised through its election manifesto to make the country digitalized and with
the end of making a ‘Digital Bangladesh’. ‘Digital Bangladesh’ aims to ensure social justice
through maximum use of technology. By walking toward this goal, country already has attained
remarkable success in different sectors like economy, education and ICT. As a Constitutional
organ, without invoking technology in our judicial system, ‘Digital Bangladesh’ will not be
completed. In general, e-judiciary system means the introduction of technology in all the section
and process of the judicial system. E-judiciary, a step towards modernization of the judicial
system, is going to be launched in the country with a view to ensure fair trial, reduce stockpile of
cases and sufferings of the people. The digitalization of the court process is popularly known as
e-judiciary system in most countries of the world. In this era of modernization, the world is
completely based on ICT, and people are desperate to get their disputes solved within a few
minutes. They are not willing to waste even a single moment unnecessarily. It is said that there
has been continuous pressure for our judiciary system to resolve court proceedings within a very
short time by the use of online functions.
Considering people’s demand, the judiciary of Bangladesh is also modernizing its system by
subscribing to new tools of technology. The first step has been taken jointly by the Supreme
Court and Bangladesh Computer Council in 10 Districts under a pilot project.

At a glance the judicial system of Bangladesh: The Judiciary of Bangladesh or Judicial system
of Bangladesh is based on the Constitution and the laws are enacted by the legislature and
interpreted by the higher courts. Bangladesh Supreme Court is the highest court of Bangladesh.
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has been described in Article 94(1) of the
Constitution of Bangladesh. Constitutionally, the judiciary of Bangladesh is composed of two
parts, namely the Supreme Court and Subordinate Courts.
i) Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has two divisions namely the Appellate
Division and the High Court Division (HCD).
a) Appellate Division: The Appellate Division hears both civil and criminal appeals from the
High Court Division. The Appellate Division may also decide a point of law reserved for its
decision by the High Court, as well as any point of law of public interest arising in the course of
an appeal from a subordinate court to the High Court, which has been reserved by the High Court
for the decision of the Appellate Division.
b) High Court Division: The High court division of the Supreme court consists of Civil courts,
Criminal courts and some Special courts and tribunals.
ii) Subordinate Courts : Subordinate courts has two sides i.e. criminal courts and civil courts
and both act as the court of first instant except some appeals are heard by Sessions Judge,
District Judge or by other lower grade Judges. A case in criminal matter may be filed either in
session or magistrate court or in police station whereas a civil case must be filed in civil court. In
both cases, suits are filed through instituting FIR, complaint or plaint which compulsorily require
physical presence of human beings.

Limitations and problems of traditional judicial system of Bangladesh:

1) Slow process : The existing system of slow, interrupting and expensive justice delivery can’t
give remedy of peoples’ grievance. Rural marginalized people suffer in every stage by
middlemen, court officials or even by lawyers. Thus they become frightened to ask remedy.
Illegal transaction, corruption, bribery, lack of accountability can never be stamped out due to
the deficiency of digitalization.
2) Case backlog: an overburdened judiciary: The number of pending cases in all courts stood
at 31,56,878 of 31 December 2016 whereas A recent UNDP forecast said the case logjam may
reach 5 million by 2020, the year before Bangladesh’s golden jubilee when the country is
projected to become a middle-mid-income country.[13] This huge pile of cases is causing serious
bar to seek justice by destructing time, money, hope and emotion of the parties. All right
reserved, tentatively high, but this large number of cases cannot be disposed in a shorter period
without digitalization.
3) Land suits: name of carrying cruel legacy: Reports showed that around 70% of outstanding
civil litigation cases in Bangladesh, involving some 1.8 million litigants related solely to land
disputes. Land suits may engulf 15-20 years average that creates serious denial of justice.
Sometimes the parties or crucial witnesses may pass away, important evidences may decay,
years may lose, thousands of money may expense but land suits may have unfinished. In absence
of online database in land offices, many ill-mined people make counterfeit deeds and documents
which lead the weaker party to a disadvantageous position.
4) Lack of digitalization: Our congested court rooms are not largely up-to-date. Most of the
court room has no internet access, video conferencing management, e-cause list and online
submission system, modern database etc. which causing far delay, mismanagement, corruption,
high risk, unnecessary expenses in the cases.

Implementation process of e-judiciary in Bangladesh:

A workshop, named “Digitalization of Bangladesh Judiciary”, was held on 5th July, 2015 at
Bangabandhu International Conference Center as a full-day event. The meeting took place
between the honorable Chief Justice of Bangladesh and the topmost political and executive
leadership from the ministries of ICT, law and Finance. In the workshop there was some
proposal and initiative to digitalize the Bangladesh Judiciary.
After that, according to the interview of M Sabbir Foyez, additional register (admin and judicial)
of the High Court division, a pilot project would be implemented in 10 districts -- Dhaka,
Comilla, Chittagong, Sylhet, Brahmanbaria, Gopalganj, Natore, Jessore, Moulvibazar and
Rangpur -- before launching the e-judiciary and then modern judicial system would be launched
in all districts. According to the project profile, the Supreme Court and Bangladesh Computer
Council will jointly implement the pilot project after getting approval from the Executive
Committee of National Economic Committee (ECNEC) meeting, he said.
"If the E-judiciary system becomes effective then the trial seekers would be able to know
proceedings and judgment of the cases by mobile phones staying in the houses," said the official.
"The people concerned with the trial process, between the higher court and the lower court, could
also finish their activities quickly through collecting information related to the cases." Besides,
the system will help to preserve record of the old cases and its judgments under “digitalized
system”, he said. By following this proposal e-judiciary are introduced in Bangladesh.

Framework of e-judiciary: It is neither possible nor desirable to digitalize the whole judicial
system overnight. The digitalization of judiciary can at best be divided into two parts: structural
digitalization and systematic digitalization.
i) Structural Digitalization: On the first step of digitalization of judicial system the court room
should be digitalized. A digital court room must have uninterrupted internet connection. Video
conferencing may help to hear and try the criminals or defendants, complainants or plaintiffs and
witnesses from jail custody or distant area. It is highly risky to escort terrorist high-commanders,
political leaders or leading criminals to court from jail custody.
Adequate computers for each courtroom should be set which will help threefold mechanism i.e.
judges, attorneys and litigants as well as the court officers. Multimedia projector, camera,
monitor, electronic recorder, VCR/DVD player, printer etc. are needed to simplify and quicken
the court activities and make proper use of working hours of the court. Data analyzer may be
inserted so that it would help to analyze thousands of data within a second. Using different
cameras, especially the evidence camera can instantly convert a paper document or physical
exhibit to an e-image.
ii) Systematic digitalization:
(a) E-case filing: For filing a case, it is immaterial of human presence which causes
unnecessary sufferings to the people. In e-case filing system, a person may create a personal
account with secured password where every updates of the case can be provided within a
moment. Thus, this service can reached up to peoples’ bedroom. Different countries like USA,
UK, Singapore etc. have already started to use e-filing. Bangladesh has reached 66.779 million
internet subscribers in January, 2017 which opened the door of digitalization easily.
(b) Digital Case Management System (DCMS): Case management system, a internal function
of the court, if digitalized, it will enhance the efficiency, swiftness and flawlessness of the courts.
Case management software helps to better use, manage, consolidate, share and protect the
confidential data of the court record room. It will reduce the possibility of losing, damaging or
twisting any documents rather give a perpetual existence of the documents.
(c) Use of mobile SMS service: Bangladesh has reached total 129.584 million mobile
subscribers in February, 2017. Cause list of particular cases may be sent via SMS to the common
people. Any latest update, query or information may reach within a short period of time by SMS.
So, this system may help secure justice.
(d) Developing a well-functional website: To ensure the availability of the e-judiciary among
the mass people a well-established and functional website needs to be constructed. A website,
called “Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission” is already existed which has provided many
information.
(e) Develop relevant software : To develop the work flow of the judicial system, relevant
software are needed to be introduced. By using software one can easily and more precisely do
the work.
(f) online-based service : In our higher judiciary, mobile phone applications have already been
launched, which allow lawyers and litigants to get updates about cases on their mobile phones.
These app users are able to search for cases using individual case numbers, party names,
respondent names, and names of the advocates. Users can also check the daily cause list
(schedule of cases to be heard by the courts on the following days).
Besides, the Supreme Court has also introduced online bail system, preserving information
relating to cases, introduction of search tools, case sms service, and online complaint service. In
Sylhet District Court, digital recording of deposition system will be introduced soon.

Prospects of e-judiciary in Bangladesh:

1) Availability of Information: The main advantage of an e-court is that the entire information
related to a particular case would be available online. It would be available to the attorneys,
parties and the general public through the help of internet.
2) Filing of documents: Registered attorneys can file their case document directly from their
home or office. They do not have to worry about postage, traffic congestion or messenger
services. They can create a docket sheet and update it immediately, when the documents are
filed.
3) Efficiency on work: e-Filing offers efficiencies not possible in the current manual system.
Examples include less need to rely on individuals for tracking case details and the ability to stop
providing multiple versions of the same data through single entry – multiple usage.
4) accuracy on work: The dramatic reduction in relying on individuals for the various tasks in
Court filing and processing significantly reduces the potential for human error. This is further
enhanced by the checks and redundancy built into the automated processes.
5) increasing of work flow: The Courts are over-loaded. Cases can take two years or more to
get to trial. The many advantages inherent in e-filing (e.g. instant notification of Cause number,
faster fixing of Court hearing dates) will over time dramatically reduce these delays.
6) Easy access: With the help of internet, the documents of a case can be accessed easily from
anywhere at anytime. e-Filing is not restricted by the operating hours of the Courts. It is always
on. Practitioners can file, check and up-date status of a case whenever they wish from anywhere
with an internet connection. Judges and Court officials can similarly review case details and
update themselves at any time.
7) Better court management: E- courts would help in the computerization of work flow
management in courts. Thus, it would help to create a better court and case management. Video
conferencing facilities would be installed in every court complex. Evidence of eyewitness, who
are unable to attend the court can be recorded through this method.
8) Data keeping: The information would not be misplaced as all the information regarding the
case would be carefully recorded and stored. Data keeping would include maintaining the
records of e-file minute entries, bail orders, warrants etc.
9) Security of the witnesses : In many cases, the witnesses are not able to come to the court and
make their statement as the other party is too strong and scares them of the consequences. e-
Courts can help in dealing with such cases.
10) Improved the security of the information: In traditional system, all the information were
scripted in manually which was a time consuming process and an insecure way. To use proper
stored software, all the information can store easily and more securely.
11) Decreasing of information redundancy: Due to manual process of exchanging and sharing
of the information of the Judicial system, there is a chance of redundancy of information. E-
Judiciary ensures the decreasing of information redundancy.
12) Ease of Use and Support: e-Judiciary in Bangladesh is designed to be as easy to use as
possible. It is based on familiar Court documents and systems, reflects multiple consultations
with and feedback from the Courts and the legal community during development, and provides
extensive on-line Help systems. Additional support is available from a dedicated Help Desk.
13) Convenience: Electronic filing eliminates the need to physically produce and transport
voluminous paperwork to the Courts – and the need for elaborate and costly processing and
storage facilities for it, once it gets there.
14) National Reputation and Foreign Investor Confidence: The introduction of e-Judiciary in
Bangladesh will further cement our country international reputation and leadership position in
Africa for judicial excellence – a vital consideration for potential foreign investors.

Problems and challenges of e-Judiciary in Bangladesh:

In the aspects of the socio-economy condition of Bangladesh, it has a great challenge to establish
the e-Judiciary system.
1) Lack of budgets: The project of e-judiciary involves a lot of expenditure. It involves the use
of a lot of computers and infrastructures. Due to the economic condition of Bangladesh it is a big
challenge.
2) Lack of techno legal expertise: Lack of techno legal expertise is the main reason for the
poor status of e-judiciary in Bangladesh. With the absence of techno legal expertise, electronic
courts cannot be established in Bangladesh. The country requires more techno legal e-court
centers so that the project of e-judiciary can achieve success.
3) Chances of hacking: It is one of the most disadvantage of technological development.
Hackers are getting stronger with every passing day. The possibility of e-Courts getting hacked
in such a case cannot be denied.
4) Lack of internet availability: Though Bangladesh has gone through several develop on
technological site, there is still the poor internet availability around the country. In the rural areal
the internet connection is very poor, which is an obstacle to achieve the benefits of e-Judiciary.
5) Maintaining currency: To maximize the efficiency of the e-Judiciary system, there needs to
be proper maintenance which includes personnel training, system updates etc. This extra
maintenance cost is a problem for the country like Bangladesh.
6) Frequent upgrade: The software which is used in e-Judiciary system, must be needed
frequent update for the credibility of work. That increase the complexity of the work.
7) Needs of training: Judges, lawyers, law enforcing agencies and court officials should be
trained so that they can cope with e-judiciary. That is a long process and increased the cost.
8) Psychological barriers: A strong unwillingness of judicial and court officials to change their
working environment can still be observed, judges and court personnel are aware of their
inability to keep up with the increasing workflow and are frustrated by their inability to
efficiently perform their duties to the public. The crucial issue is that many of them do not realize
what technological solutions are available and how much they can improve their working
capabilities by adopting these new solutions.