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DHAKA, Jan 20, 2025 (BSS) – Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed today said significant progress has been made in establishing the Supreme Court (SC) Secretariat.

He said this while addressing a regional seminar titled 'Ensuring the Independence of the Judiciary and Improving the  Efficiency of Judicial Service Delivery' jointly organized by the Bangladesh Supreme Court and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh.

High Court Division Justice Farah Mahbub chaired the seminar while UNDP’s Stefan Liller delivered the welcome speech.

Judges of various tribunals of Chattogram, including judges of various levels of judiciary working in Chattogram District and Sessions Judge Court, Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Labour Court, Chattogram City Corporation, Chattogram Custom House also joined the seminar.

Chief Justice said that after the announcement of the roadmap for judicial reform on September 21, 2024, a draft has already been approved to form the Judicial Appointment Council to ensure the independence of the judiciary.

As a result, the draft ordinance prepared for the appointment of high court judges has been approved by the Council of Advisers , he said.

Refaat Ahmed said SC is working on formulating necessary policies for the transfer and promotion of subordinate court judges and introducing the Chief Justice Fellowship to enhance the capacity of the judicial officers.

The Chief Justice said the judiciary is moving towards digitalization. As part of this, paperless operations have already started in the Company Bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, he said.