Dr Asif Nazrul, law, justice, and parliamentary affairs adviser, said irregularities have occurred in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.
"For this reason, we have initiated the process of drafting an ordinance for the appointment of Supreme Court judges. We will finalize the draft."
He made the comments on Saturday while presiding over a discussion meeting held at the Judicial Administration Training Institute on College Road in the capital.
He highlighted that the Constitution grants immense power to judges of the higher courts, adding: "If this institution is corrupted, any government can exploit it to violate human rights with impunity. Over the past 15 years, this has been happening. The higher courts have been turned into tools for human rights violations and oppression."
Providing examples, he said: "We have witnessed horrifying incidents, such as the Appellate Division delaying bail hearings to keep Khadija, a student of Jagannath University, in jail without trial. Such dreadful acts have occurred. The most critical issue in the judiciary is the law governing the appointment of higher court judges. Numerous examples exist of malpractice in the name of appointing judges to the higher courts."
Dr. Nazrul further elaborated: "Judges have been appointed to the higher courts who failed the judicial service exam for lower courts, failed university admission tests, couldn’t gain admission to universities, and merely graduated from law colleges. Some of them never practiced law in court. These are alarming instances."
Speaking about feedback received during the meeting, he said: "Everyone emphasized that higher court appointments must be improved. The current system is not functioning effectively, and changes must be made through legislation. Suggestions were provided on how to make the process more constitutional and effective. We have started this process and will prepare a final draft."
Regarding judge appointments, Dr Nazrul said: "Corruption doesn’t only occur in the appointment of higher court judges. It also happens during appointments to the Appellate Division, in bench formations, and even in the appointment of the Chief Justice. We will try to address all these issues. At the very least, we aim to leave behind improved laws and better appointments."
Referring to the appointment of 23 judges during the interim government, he said: "We repeatedly heard that High Court judges were extremely loyal to a particular political party, and many of them engaged in malpractice. Allegations existed against 90% of them. There was constant pressure to appoint certain judges. We couldn’t wait for the law because there was even a risk of a judicial coup, so the appointments had to be made quickly. Mistakes may have happened, but the appointments were a collective decision involving the Chief Justice’s office, the Attorney General’s office, and three advisers.
"We may have erred, but we didn’t have time. In the future, if we can create better laws and appoint 30-40 judges, they can serve the country for 20-30 years. Doing something is better than doing nothing," he concluded.
