The interim government has finalised a draft for the Appointment of High Court judges keeping a provision for 50 per cent representation from subordinate judges and another 50 per cent representation from the advocates practised in the Supreme Court, sources said.
The draft law also proposed 50 years as the minimum age for appointing High Court judges and 60 years for Appellate Division judges, sources added.
As per the current system, the Supreme Court gave recommendations in two categories of judges for appointments to High Courts: advocates directly elevated from the bar and judicial officers promoted from the subordinate courts. But, currently, only 43.6 per cent of HC judges have been appointed from the subordinate judiciary and the remaining 56.4 per cent were appointed directly from the Bar, according to the Supreme Court data.
Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul had on December 28 said that the interim government initiated the process of drafting an ordinance for the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
He also informed that the government has already talked with several stakeholders for enacting the law in this regard.
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. We didn't have enough 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 added.
Both the ministry and the Supreme Court sources said that the draft law has already been finalised in the meantime. Now, the Law Ministry scrutinising final task as the Supreme Court sent its draft to the ministry for finalising it.
The drafted law proposed the formation of a Supreme Judicial Appointment Council to assist the Chief Justice in consulting with the president on appointing Supreme Court judges in a strengthened, effective and transparent manner.
The draft law also proposes the creation of a Judicial Appointment Council to be chaired by the Chief Justice and having nine members, including two senior-most Appellate Division judges, two senior-most High Court judges (one from the lower judiciary), the Attorney General, the Supreme Court Bar Association president, a university law professor nominated by the University Grants Commission and two citizens to be elected through the process, sources said.
The council would assess candidates based on qualifications outlined in Article 95(2) (c) of the Constitution and additional criteria, such as citizenship, educational background, work experience, honesty and loyalty to the law.
Applicants below the age of 50 would be disqualified for appointment as additional High Court judges, while candidates for the Appellate Division must be minimum 60 years old, according to the draft law.
Article 95(1) and (2) of the Constitution outlines the qualifications for Supreme Court judges, requiring Bangladeshi citizenship and at least 10 years of experience as a Supreme Court advocate. Both the ministry and the Supreme Court agreed on this point.
The current Chief Justice Dr Sayed Reefat Ahmed has taken various steps to reform the judiciary after his appointment. The Chief Justice has already taken adequate measures to bring legal and structural reforms in the judiciary to establish an independent judicial secretariat to ensure its independence in line with verdict of the Masdar Hossain case.
The CJ has already taken various steps to enact specific law for appointing higher court judges like other developed countries aimed at flourishing merit of the judges, making the posting and transfer of the judges transparent and allocating sovereign and sufficient budget for the judiciary.
In line with the roadmap, a proposal for constituting a separate judicial secretariat has been sent to the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry on October 27 last and finally under his leadership the long standing issue of judges appointment law is going to be finalised very soon.
