Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) in collaboration with Law and Justice Division (LJD) of the Ministry of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Judicial Administration Training Institute (Jati) organized a Mediation Training program for Legal Professionals, titled ‘Development of Mediation and Civil Litigation Practices for Enhancement of Access to Justice Project (A2J Project)’.
The training was held on November 1-2 at Jati, Dhaka.
LJD in collaboration with Jica launched A2J Project in April 2024 to ensure effective access to justice in Bangladesh.
To achieve this goal A2J Project organized the Mediation Training for judges, District Legal Aid officers and lawyers to further strengthen the capacity of legal professionals as these legal professionals play an important role in the mediation process as well as promoting mediation system in Bangladesh.
During the training sessions Prof Inaba Kazuto, mediator and former Judge of Japan, delivered lectures on the institutional framework of mediation based on practices in Japan and other Asian countries and he also conducted mock mediation.
A total of 40 participants, including judges, district legal aid officers and lawyers from the project pilot district Narsingdi and Comilla and also officials from other related judicial institutions, participated and completed the training program.
Prof Inaba Kazuto awarded certificates to the participants after successful completion of the training program.
Secretary, Law and Justice Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Abu Taher and Chief Representative, Jica Bangladesh Office Ichiguchi Tomohide were present at the closing/certificate awarding ceremony.
Sheikh Abu Taher, secretary, LJD reaffirmed the importance of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) including mediation in resolving backlogs and reminded that Bangladesh has taken various initiatives so far to reduce the backlog and that many disputing cases in fact were resolved through mediation by legal aid officers.
In this regard, he expressed his expectation that this training program will improve participants’ professional knowledge, expertise and skills which will ultimately put a benchmark in facilitating speedy and effective disposal of cases through mediation.
Ichiguchi Tomohide, chief representative, Jica Bangladesh Office expressed his gratitude to the co-organizers, LJD and Jati, as well as to all the participants for their dedication to the successful implementation of this training program, and stated that he expected the participants become key facilitator to promote fair and efficient mediation in Bangladesh and share the skills and knowledge acquired in this training program with other legal professionals.
He also said that Jica is committed to providing the maximum supports to judiciary reform and that this training will contribute to the ongoing judicial reform.
It is highly expected that the knowledge acquired during the training will be shared by the participants to other legal professionals in each pilot district, which definitely will improve the mediation working system in that district and will also further facilitate people’s easy access to justice.