Bangladesh's e-filing (electronic filing) system for company and admiralty matters is steadily gaining popularity as a number of disputes have been filed over the last seven months.
The system for the company-and admiralty-related cases was introduced with the High Court (HC) division in December 2021, to expedite court proceedings and save time and cost.
Admiralty refers to the branch of law that deals with ships and shipping.
From December 9, 2021 to July 4, 2022, a total of 211 cases - both companies and admiralty matters -were filed digitally.
Of them, 188 are related to different companies, while 23 others are connected to admiralty-related issues.
According to lawyers and court officials, the newly introduced initiative marks the beginning of a new chapter.
Since the matter is new, judges, lawyers, court assistants-staff, lawyers' assistants and other stakeholders need to be properly trained, they observed.
On December 1, 2021, the SC administration in a circular directed all parties concerned, regarding admiralty and company matters, to e-file all cases, applications and appeals with the HC, effective from December 9.
Regarding the system, several officials said that through the software, a lawyer can log into the designated portal using their user ID and password.
To log into the portal, one has to file a case by uploading or scanning the application, court fees and related documents along with the necessary information of company and admiralty issues.
