A Correspondent:
Rajshahi, Oct 25, 2025: Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed has said justice strengthens the state, while the absence of justice can make even the strongest nations crumble.
Citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he said that global awareness of injustice and abuse of power gave rise to a renewed moral consciousness that upholds human dignity and freedom.
“Law is not only a set of regulations but also a reflection of conscience or moral of the nation,” he said while addressing a ceremony to mark the 72nd founding anniversary of the Department of Law at Rajshahi University (RU) at its Kazi Nazrul Islam auditorium yesterday as the chief guest.
Appellate Division Justices Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, SM Emdadul Haque, and AKM Asaduzzaman, along with High Court judges, faculty members, legal scholars, and students joined the programme.
The Chairman of the Department of Law presided over the ceremony.
Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed underscored the need for a roadmap for reformation of the judici-ary and institutional independence of the judiciary.
Emphasizing technology-driven justice, Refaat said the judiciary must adapt to the age of artificial intel-ligence and automation through data-based management and digital access to justice.
At the centre of the government’s Roadmap for Judicial Reform is the plan to create a separate Supreme Court Secretariat, envisioned as the administrative hub of the judiciary.
The proposed secretariat will oversee planning, coordination, and management of judicial affairs, ensur-ing efficiency, transparency, and greater access to justice.
The chief justice emphasized the need for collective efforts from the Supreme Court administration, Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association, judges of district courts, and the Bangladesh Judicial Service Association.
“Reciprocity, rationality, and avoidance of one-upmanship should be the three guiding principles for ensuring the judiciary’s lasting autonomy. Even the slightest hint of distrust or unilateral decision-making could endanger the very architecture of institutional independence,” he added.
Referring to Bangladesh’s own history, he said the Language Movement of 1952 and the Liberation War of 1971 were not only political struggles but also battles for justice, dignity, and self-determination.
The Chief Justice said the decision follows 15 months of strategic coordination between the office of the chief justice and the Executive branch, aimed at institutionalizing judicial autonomy through structural
reforms.
He praised Rajshahi University for its significant contributions to Bangladesh’s legal system and ex-pressed hope that it would continue producing jurists who are both intellectually and morally enlight-ened.
