The second webinar of the Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP) has discussed the launch of virtual courts in Bangladesh.
ALAP’s “Legal Webinar Series” was launched earlier this month and was streamed live from its Facebook page at 7:30pm on Tuesday, a press release said on Wednesday.
The webinar was moderated by Supreme Court Advocate Barrister Rashna Imam and Managing Partner of Akhtar Imam & Associates.
The discussants were Supreme Court Appellate Division Justice Mohammad Imman Ali and UNDP Bangladesh Deputy Resident Representative Van Nguyen.
When asked about his involvement with the launch of virtual courts in Bangladesh, Justice Imman quoted an advice given to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by his father: “You will not fail in life if you are sincere and honest in your efforts to achieve your goals,” and said he always believed in those words and that is why he perseveres in his efforts to implement digital courts in Bangladesh.
Responding to a question posed by Rashna on whether it is at all possible to reopen the courts, the Appellate Division justice said: “Who will take the responsibility for any death that happens. Should courts reopen and a peon contracts the virus, who will take the blame?”
When asked about UNDP’s vision of scaling up virtual courts and its prospects in Bangladesh, Nguyen stressed the importance of collaboration amongst all the key players, including the Judiciary, the A2i, the Bar, the private sector and the Government in scaling it up.
Furthermore, she added that virtual courts have great potential in becoming a part of the mode of justice delivery in Bangladesh given it is time saving and cost effective.
ALAP is an independent, non-political, and non-profit making platform with the main objective of bringing together leading jurists, industry leaders, and development partners to discuss current legal and policy issues and challenges facing Bangladesh, to conduct research into these issues, and to formulate concrete law and policy reform proposals to be presented to the policymakers and to disseminate knowledge.