Strengthening village courts, making them more active stressed

Stakeholders emphasised strengthening the village courts and making them more active so that villagers can settle their cases easily within the village, without unnecessary expenses or harassment.

They called for increased funding for court management and higher honorariums for judges to that end.

They said this at the divisional conference today (27 February) titled "The Role and Responsibilities of Local Administration in Activating Village Courts," organised by the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner's Office and the Local Government Division in Dhaka.

The conference was attended by around 350 participants from relevant sectors, including a significant number of UP chairmen.

The participating chairmen at the conference expressed their expectations for an increase in the financial jurisdiction of village courts and sought cooperation from all levels of administration in implementing court decisions.

A presentation highlighted the project's achievements, revealing that since its inception, village courts have recovered Tk67 crore as compensation for various disputes and provided it to the applicants.

So far, 74,597 cases have been filed in village courts, of which 53,186 (71%) have been resolved, while the remaining cases are still ongoing.

Additionally, decisions have already been made in 44,754 (84%) of the total cases.

The presentation also revealed that approximately 1,49,194 people have benefitted from village court services so far.

In 2009, the Bangladesh government launched the Village Court Activation Project with financial and technical support from the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union to strengthen the local justice system.

Currently, in its third phase, the project is working to deliver services to rural communities across 4,453 unions in 468 upazilas of 61 districts in 8 divisions, excluding the three districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

In the first and second phases of the project, more than 25 lakh local people in 1,412 unions across the country received judicial services.

Since its inception, the project has transformed the lives of millions by making justice more accessible to the poor and marginalised communities at the grassroots level, particularly women and disadvantaged groups, according to stakeholders.

They recommended regularising meetings of the Village Court Management Committees at the district and upazila levels and ensuring the implementation of their decisions to further activate village courts across all union parishads, including project areas.

At the same time, they emphasised the need for chairmen to take exemplary initiatives in creating a women-friendly environment in village courts.

A village court is a government service. It provides a formal procedure for resolving disputes among villagers, as opposed to informal arbitration. The union parishad chairman serves as the judge in the court.

It also helps address issues without the need to file cases unnecessarily and brings dynamism to the judiciary by reducing the pressure of the case in the judge's court.