[Reader-list] High Court's Landmark Decision on Chittagong Hill Tracts

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

Finally the beginning of justice for the indigenous people on
Chittagong Hill Tracts, under siege and fighting a guerilla war (and
now a PR war) for regional autonomy.

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High Court Judgment to Set up Civil and Criminal Courts and
Suppression of Violence against Women Tribunals in the Chittagong Hill
Tracts

The High Court on 24th Februart 2008 directed the Government to set up
three separate civil and criminal courts and Nari o Shishu Nirjatan
Domon (Suppression of Violence against Women and Children) Tribunals
in Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban Districts in the Chittagong
Hill Tracts, as soon as possible, and no later than one year from the
date of judgment.1

The judgment was given in a writ petition filed in 2006 by the
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and others, on behalf
of the peoples of three hill districts, seeking directions upon the
Government to give immediate effect to existing laws which provide for
the establishment of such courts in the CHT and to implement the
constitutional mandate for separation of the judiciary .2

It is hoped that implementation of this judgment will address the
acute crisis regarding access to justice in the CHT. Reportedly over
3,500 cases from the three districts have been lying unresolved before
the Chittagong Session Judge's Court for many years. Hundreds of
people in the Bandarban district alone have been languishing in
prisons without facing any trial due to the existing backlogs and the
lack of any accessible forum to hear their cases.

Background

The judicial system of the three districts which formerly comprised
the Chittagong Hill Tracts ? Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban ?
was earlier governed by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation 1900,
leaving the executive in control of all judicial functions. Further,
no District or Sessions Judges' Courts were ever been established in
the three Hill Districts, the Chittagong-based Additional Divisional
Commissioner, being an executive official, dispensing judicial
functions in the cases.

Consequently, there is no separation of the judiciary from the
executive relating to cases within the CHT. And the practical
obstacles to access to justice are immense, with anyone residing in
the CHT and requiring access to any appellate forum needing to travel
all the way to Chittagong to seek justice.

Although the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2003
provided for establishing civil and criminal courts in the three hill
districts and later, Section 26 of the Nari-O-Shishu?Nirjatan- Daman-
Ain 2000 also provided for establishing separate Nari o Shishu
Nirjaton Domon Tribunals, no steps were taken by the government to act
on this legislative mandate. In the last year, despite legislative and
administrative steps having been taken in the last year for separation
of the judiciary from executive, pursuant to the celebrated judgment
in Government of Bangladesh versus Masdar Hossain, no steps were taken
to extend these steps to the CHT.

Contact Person:

Amatul Karim, Senior Staff Lawyer, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services
Trust (BLAST), 141/1 Segubagicha, Dhaka 1000; amatul at blast.org.bd;
01718-907729 (mobile)


Here is the English version
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/03/06/high-court-judgment-for-the-people-of-cht/

Here is the Bangla version:  http://www.drishtipat.org/bangla/?p=20