Dhaka: The government is going to set up legal aid centers in all bar association offices in the country to provide legal aid to the poor justice-seekers in an easy way.

Law Minister Barrister Shafiq Ahmed informed this while addressing a discussion on Legal Aid Act 2000 organized by Manusher Jonno Foundation at Brac Foundation Wednesday.

“Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will be made mandatory to get rid of huge backlog of cases. At the same time, the government has taken up a scheme to construct 12-storey buildings in all 64 districts for the judicial magistrates,” the minister said.

Putting emphasis on reform of the judiciary, Suranjit Sengupta, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said, “The trial process in the country is still expensive. This situation must be changed for making the judiciary a service-oriented system.”

Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Dr. Shahdin Malik, A K M Mohammad Hossain, Joint secretary of the Parliament Secretariat, and representatives from a number of NGOs also attended the discussion.

BDST: 1520 Hrs, 23 July 2010
RSA/LY/MUA