The government will appoint the required number of judges to the higher and subordinate courts to help reduce the country's mounting case backlog, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman said on Tuesday.
The minister made the remarks while responding to a written question from reserved-seat MP Mahfuza Hannan during the 20th sitting of the second and first budget session of the 13thNational Parliament.
The session was chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad Bir Bikram.
In her question, Mahfuza Hannan asked whether the government had any plans to recruit additional judges to expedite the disposal of pending cases in the higher and lower courts.
Replying to the query, the law minister said the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court currently has five judges, including the Chief Justice, while the High Court Division has 101 judges.
"The government is actively working, in line with the Constitution, to appoint the required number of judges to ensure the speedy disposal of pending cases in the higher judiciary," he said.
The minister also said there are 2,620 sanctioned posts for judges in the subordinate courts, of which 1,964 are currently filled.
To address the vacancies, the written examination for the recruitment of 150 civil judges under the 18th Bangladesh Judicial Service (BJS) examination has already been held, he said.
He added that requisitions have been sent to the Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission to recruit another 150 civil judges through the 19th BJS examination and 200 more through the 20th BJS examination. The commission is now working to issue the recruitment circulars accordingly.