Pre-case mediation cuts case backlog by 62% in 20 districts
The government has prioritised reducing the huge backlog of cases in courts across the country, taking a series of measures, including promoting alternative dispute resolution, to expedite case disposal and ensure speedy justice for all.
The efforts have already yielded significant results, with the existing case backlog reduced by 62.02 per cent in 20 designated project districts where pre-case mediation has been made mandatory.
Under the initiative, people in the 20 districts have to go through mediation before approaching the courts, while four to five judicial officials have been appointed in each district for mediation purposes.
“We have reduced the existing backlog by 62.02 per cent in six months from March to August 2026, in 20 districts as we made pre-case mediation compulsory there. People there has to go for mediation first before knocking on the doors of courts,” said Md Monjurul Hossain, Director General of the Directorate of Bangladesh Legal Aid (DBLA).
During the six-month period, the DBLA received 28,904 applications for mediation in the 20 project districts, of which 22,156 were successfully resolved.
The initiative is part of the DBLA's broader efforts to reduce the existing backlog of cases and bring justice to the doorstep of people irrespective of their age, gender, social status or financial condition.
The directorate has also taken steps to expand access to legal aid for vulnerable sections of the population. It has already signed a tripartite agreement with the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to take legal aid services to vulnerable people.
The DBLA has also launched a one-stop service and brought more than 300 unions in nine districts under digitisation. Under the system, justice seekers will be able to file complaints from their respective union digital centres instead of having to travel to district towns.
“We have launched a one-stop service. We have brought more than 300 unions in nine districts under digitisation, where justice seekers will not need to come to the district town to file their complaints; instead, they will be able to file these from their respective union digital centres,” Monjurul said.
The DBLA has also introduced an online complaint filing system for expatriates, particularly as they often face conjugal disputes with their spouses as well as disputes with parents and siblings but cannot file complaints in person from abroad.
The directorate is now focusing on familiarising students of different educational institutions with the mediation process.
Meanwhile, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman has on numerous occasions said that compromisable cases should be settled quickly through mediation under legal aid.
“I was very happy to see statistics from Manikganj recently, where around 50 per cent of the existing cases that could be disposed of easily have already been reduced through ADR,” the law minister said.
As part of a new government plan to reduce the number of cases, the law minister said his ministry would give special awards to districts that reduce their case backlogs the most through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and other effective measures within the next year.
