Introducing E-Court

The Constitution of Bangladesh provides the basis for legal aid mechanism through its different Articles though there is no clearly spelt out expression in any Article on the subject concerned. Firstly, article 27 says that all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to its equal protection. Article 14 states that it shall be the fundamental responsibility of the state to liberate backward sectors of  society from all forms of exploitations. Article 18 says that the state shall endeavour to ensure equality of opportunity to all citizens. Article 35(3) ensures a speedy and fair trial. Article 33(1) states that any person arrested shall not be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his/her choice.
These rights intend to ensure "right to justice" to those who cannot afford the "costs and forms" of availing justice in Bangladesh. In short, right to free legal aid is the backbone for granting access to justice to "marginalised" people of Bangladesh. It has been more than 40 years since the constitution of Bangladesh came into force. However, till now the objectives of achieving right to free legal aid and right to fair trail are distant dreams. This is really frustrating as 40 years is a very long time to achieve this objective.
 Our legal and judicial systems are marred with many loopholes and deficiencies that do not allow us to achieve the objective of "omnipresent justice." The most recent development for providing legal aid in Bangladesh is the Legal Aid Services Act, 2000. According to this Act, the whole legal aid service to indigenous people is conducted through a National Legal Aid Services Board and by its district committees. All the powers and authorities in this regulation of legal aid are vested with the National Legal Aid Board (NLAB). The NLAB shall determine the eligibility of the applicants for legal aid and enact the rules of business in this regard. Various legal aid schemes shall be developed and complemented by legal education and research. The Act envisages initiatives of the Board to make the people aware of their legal rights through publications, seminars and the media. There is no such provision for online procedures for the aggrieved parties. The government machinery suffers from a serious lack of transparency and accountability, colonial mindset and needless to mention, large-scale corruption. We are still not open to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for extending the reach of justice to various segments of society. In India computerisation of Court procedures has helped in considerably reducing the backlog of cases. However, mere computerisation of Court procedures will not serve in the long run, as there is the need for a wholesale overhaul of the judicial system, and in so doing, E-Court (electronic Court) appears to the best choice.
 An electronic court is the process where the traditional courts are made more effective and speedier through the use of ICT. From filing of the case to its final adjudication, everything is done in an online environment. E-Courts have some unique features, such as - role-based access to authorised users, facility for uploading scanned files/evidence and adding appropriate metadata, facility for the judges to access recording of proceeding for review, availability of information content 24x7 online, access to case records, provision to provide case CD/DVD to authorised person/s, provision for taking record backup at a specified backup site, live webcast of case proceedings through web portal and so on.
In designing facilities for E-Courts in Bangladesh there is need for relying more on the software elements. For instance, use of software can curb bench hunting in Bangladesh and increase disposal of cases up to 25 to 50 per cent. Software and Apps can also be used for dispute resolution purposes. We have Arbitration Act, 2001 that empowers the parties to resolve their disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (ADRMs) like arbitration, conciliation, mediation etc. However, the Arbitration Act is "outdated" in nature as it does not specifically support use of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). There is an urgent need to enact new Arbitration Law that also recognises use of ODR in Bangladesh for dispute resolution.
While other nations are working towards using ODR for dispute resolutions, Bangladesh is apparently in no mood to do so. For instance, the UK government has started a consultation on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to help UK consumers resolve complaints and disputes. ODR is also been proposed to be used for cross border e-commerce transactions, cross border technology transactions, domain name dispute resolution etc. Even legal standards for Online Dispute Resolution for cross-border electronic transactions are under consideration.
These "technological remedies" are not difficult to adopt but the political will to do the same is missing. Bangladesh will not be in a position to truly ensure that the marginalised people have their access to justice until the government adopts application of ICT in judiciary. We have an ICT-friendly government in the country that can help achieve this much needed objective.
The writer is senior lecturer, Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh.
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