Law Minister Anisul Haq yesterday said even though the government had not sought any expert opinion while finalising the draft of the constitution amendment bill, it would do so while preparing the draft of judges’ impeachment act.
“It is not necessary to have a discussion on the draft of the constitution amendment bill. We need to get expert opinion while preparing the draft of judges’ impeachment act. Opinions from experts, lawyers and civil society members will be sought at that time,” he told reporters after attending a national conference held at a city hotel yesterday.
The National Legal Aid Services Organisation, Bangladesh and Community Legal Service jointly organised the conference on legal aid services.
Anisul said, “Judiciary is not for any individual section. It’s for all. Everyone has the right to get justice. The poor too have the right to get aid from the state. It is the state’s responsibility to provide aid to the people.”
It was a challenge to ensure legal services, he said, adding that special training programmes had been taken to ensure standard legal services. “The fees of panel lawyers
have been increased and a reward for them announced to motivate the lawyers.”
An initiative to use the district legal aid offices as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) centres was taken to get rid of a backlog of cases. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were also providing legal assistance for the poor along with the government, he added.
DFID’s Senior Governance Adviser Richard Butterworth, Community Legal Services Project’s Team Leader Hector Diaz Soliman, Law and Justice Division Secretary Abu Saleh Sk Md Zahirul Haque and Project Director of National Legal Aid Services Organisation Syed Aminul Islam also spoke at the conference.
