Pending cases in Bangladesh are something that has been tackled by numerous lawyers and legal bodies in the past but remain to be a persistent problem. The number of pending legal cases increases with each passing day and causes more backlogs within this industry.
Current Scenario
In 2020, it was estimated that more than 3.5 million were still pending, both within the higher and lower courts. Over 1.7 million criminal cases and 1.3 million civil cases were still pending at the time of the research.
As for the High Court Division, there were over 300,000 criminal cases, 96,000 civil cases, and 93,107 writs and appeals pending. For the Appellate Division, there was an estimated total of 7,655 criminal cases and 135 contempt petition cases.
Across the country, there are estimated to be 59,860 cases pending within family courts. Dhaka alone carries around 5500 cases among this.
Several measures and regulatory changes have been put into effect to control this rise in unfinished cases. In January of this year, eight High Court Division judges were assigned the responsibility of supervising pending cases across eight divisions of the nation.
However, this initiative was targeted to tackle the pending cases over the past two decades and none before that. So, one might beg the question, what is the problem with pending cases?
Pending cases are unfinished responsibilities and duties of lawyers and the state. These cases will need closure at some point, but the long wait time can lead to mismanagement or loss of data, change in evidence, details, and much more.
The judiciary system is responsible and accountable for the cases filed by citizens and delaying their closure can lead to unrest in the economy and loss of faith in the system. Also, this severe backlog of cases puts extreme pressure on lawyers, legal professionals, and their efficiency. A profound amount of time and resources are allocated to pending cases. All these resources could have otherwise been utilized in solving other urgent and new cases that sprout in our country by the second.
Why Are There So Many Pending Cases?
We have identified the problem and the statistics of pending cases but why are there so many pending cases in the first place? Well, while the reasons vary from case to case, there are some common reasons for the general rise in pending cases in Bangladesh. Let’s explore some of these reasons below.
- Not enough judges: Bangladesh has an estimated 1900 judges in Bangladesh who are tending to the massive 165 million population. The availability of judges is drastically low compared to the number of cases and clients.
- Not enough courts: Another issue might be the shortage of all types of courts and their services. This also ties in with the lack of judges within the nation.
- Increase in rights awareness by citizens: With easier access to the laws and rights of the common man, people are filing cases more than before. This is leading to higher production in relation to the supply of legal services.
- Excessive information: Excessive amount of case documents and files is also another prime reason for the increase in pending cases in Bangladesh. Mismanagement of this data can lead to missing files, delays in processing, and more.
How To Avoid the Problem of Pending Cases?
Regardless of the cause, finding a solution for pending cases and their occurrence is critical for legal professionals across the country. A large amount of time and resources are dedicated to pending cases that could otherwise be used in other useful ways.
While all the solutions for pending cases are not possible due to infrastructural challenges, there are things lawyers and legal professionals can do to take matters into their own hands. There are many ways out of this never-ending backlog in our judiciary system.
An effective solution can be to use legal case management tools within day-to-day activities. This can help with document and file management, meeting scheduling, managing deadlines, and storing client information. Workflow management is vital for lowering the number of pending cases in Bangladesh for the present as well as the future.
Summing Up
Pending cases in Bangladesh is something troubling lawyers and the legal system for years now. Finding a solution is essential for bringing in more efficiency and organization within this industry and all the professionals who reside within it. Make most of legal case management tools to keep yourself aligned so you can also control the number of pending cases within your work history!