Photo: Collected

DHAKA, Feb 18, 2025 (BSS) - Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 
successfully completed the advanced mediation training for legal 
professionals.

The training was completed under the "Development of Mediation and Civil 
Litigation Practices for Enhancement of Access to Justice Project (A2J 
Project)" in collaboration with the Law and Justice Division (LJD) of the 
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Judicial 
Administration Training Institute (JATI).
 
The training programme included a range of practical and theoretical learning 
sessions designed to enhance the skills of legal professionals such as 
judges, legal aid officers and lawyers who are actively involved in the 
mediation process, said a press release here today.

In April 2024, JICA, in collaboration with LJD, launched the A2J Project to 
promote effective access to justice in Bangladesh. As part of the initiative, 
the project successfully organised a foundational mediation training course 
for legal professionals in November 2024 at JATI.

The project recently conducted the advanced mediation training for legal 
professionals to further develop the capacity of legal professionals-judges, 
legal aid officers, and lawyers-who play a critical role in enhancing the 
mediation process and promoting a mediation system within civil society in 
Bangladesh.
 
This advanced course was designed to deepen participants' expertise and 
strengthen their ability to apply more advanced and practical mediation 
techniques.

World-renowned mediation expert Professor Masako MIYATAKE from Japan 
conducted the training as a primary lecturer.
 
Building upon the content covered in the training attended by participants in 
November, the session provided participants with further knowledge and 
techniques essential for mediators and an in-depth understanding of the 
mediation process through lectures and mock mediation exercises. 

A total of 50 participants, including judges, district legal aid officers and 
lawyers from the project's pilot districts (Narsingdi and Cumilla), and 
officials from related judicial institutions, attended the programme.

Upon successful completion of the training programme, Prof MIYATAKE presented 
certificates to the participants.
 
Sheikh Abu Taher, secretary of Law and Justice Division, Ministry of Law, 
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and ICHIGUCHI Tomohide, chief 
representative of JICA Bangladesh Office attended the closing and 
certificate-awarding ceremony.

Law and Justice Division Secretary underscored the importance of law 
enforcement in ensuring good governance in his closing points. 

He emphasized the value of advanced mediation training in strengthening 
mediation practices and concluded by thanking JICA and its partners for their 
continued support.

In his closing remarks, ICHIGUCHI Tomohide expressed gratitude to all 
involved in the project.
 
He reaffirmed JICA's strong partnership with Bangladesh and the 
organisation's role in addressing the judicial backlog since 2016 while 
emphasizing the significance of the training for judges, legal aid officers, 
and lawyers in mediation.
 
A2J Project expects that the participants will apply the knowledge, skills, 
and techniques acquired during this training in their role as judges, legal 
aid officers and lawyers in their respective professional areas and thereby 
contribute to the promotion of the mediation system in Bangladesh and 
ultimately to the expansion of access to justice for everyone.

Additionally, it is hoped that the participants will share their skills and 
knowledge with other legal professionals after the training and the project 
will continue to advance activities to improve the mediation system and 
establish the foundation of access to justice in Bangladesh.