Staff Reporter:
Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed yesterday vowed to implement cent percent the roadmap an-nounced for bringing reform to the judiciary.
“— the reform journey we began has not faltered but advanced with a determination nearing one hun-dred percent implementation — a roadmap which is designed to answer the voice of the people. That voice, resounding in July and August 2024, demanded that justice must be lived, visible, and felt,” he said.
He was addressing a regional seminar on Judicial Independence and Efficiency as the chief guest at Grand Park Hotel in Barishal district, said a press release.
The Chief Justice said he had announced the roadmap for judiciary one year ago in the Inner Garden of the Supreme Court in presence of the judges of the apex court of the country and judges of district judi-ciaries and magistracies.
“From the outset, my purpose was singular; to restore the lost confidence of our people in their judici-ary. This could not be achieved by rhetoric alone. It required tangible change, transparent systems, ac-countable institutions, and the moral courage to reform ourselves before reforming others,” he said.
Thus, on September 21, 2024, I pledged before the nation that judicial independence, efficiency, and institutional excellence would no longer remain distant aspirations, he added.
Instead, they would be converted into an actionable framework; short-term steps to heal the immediate wounds, medium-term measures to consolidate gains, and long-term structures to safeguard our future, the Chief Justice said.
“Over this past year, I am proud to say, the roadmap has been translated into lived reality. It has re-shaped the culture of our courts, the expectations of our citizens, and the credibility of our institutions,” he said.
Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke, Ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, Nicolas Weeks, Am-bassador of Norway to Bangladesh Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen, EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Bangladesh, Michael Miller, Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh Stefan Liller and Registrar General of Bangladesh Supreme Court Mohammad Habibur Rahman Siddiquee, among others, were present.
For decades, jurists, scholars, and citizens alike voiced the universal demand for an open, credible, and collegium-based system of appointing judges to the apex court, the Chief Justice said.
Another milestone of the CJB’s reform roadmap was reached with the promulgation of two seminal sets of Rules in 2025, the Rules on Posting in the Law and Justice Division and the Rules on Judicial Service Construction, the CJ said.
