Village Court a new ray of hope of justice for rural poor
Saturday, 19 September 2009
The launching of Village Court appears as a ray of hope for the poor communities of rural areas of Madaripur district in ensuring justice and social harmony as people in the district can now resolve trifling disputes at their own unions through the activation of village courts by paying taka five only, reports BSS.
After decades of decision to introduce village court in the judiciary system in 1976, the courts are now being activated under the law titled 'Village Court Act, 2006' to dispense justice to the poor rural people of the country at a nominal cost but with fast approach.
Though the act was activated in the country since long, the rural people even the public representatives of local government like the chairmen and members of the union parishad were not aware of the law.
Because of the ignorance of these people's representatives it is still a common phenomenon for the poor community to remain deprived of the legal services or become poorer in maintaining a case at the district judge's court.
These people usually became the victim of human rights violation from the traditional village dispute resolving system of 'Salish'.
"Earlier, we had to go to the district judge's court and hire a lawyer for resolving small disputes and had to wait for long years to get the verdict and even when we got the justice that result was less than the benefits we got compared to what we had spent as the expenses for lawyers and court fees and communication", said Rahim Mollah, a 50-year old farmer of the Kendua union in Madaripur Sadar Upazila.
On every Thursday a village court sits at the Kendua Upazila with the support of Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA), which usually resolve five to six disputes in a week.
The court was formed with a five-member jury board headed by the Union Parishad (UP) chairman while other juries are two including one member of the local UP were selected by the petitioner side and other two including one UP member by the accused side.
After hearing both the sides the UP chairman as per the decision of the juries declares the verdict.
The village court has the provision of resolving cases, which will have Tk 50,000 financial implications.
"The proceedings at the village court is very transparent and credible as the verdict is declared as per the judgement of the juries selected by the petitioners and the accused and in front of all villagers", Kendua UP chairman Shah Mohammad Rayhan Kabir said.
People of the locality after activation of the village court do not go to the district judge's court unless there is major criminal offences like murder as they prefer the village court because they get justice speedily only spending taka five, the UP chairman said.
After decades of decision to introduce village court in the judiciary system in 1976, the courts are now being activated under the law titled 'Village Court Act, 2006' to dispense justice to the poor rural people of the country at a nominal cost but with fast approach.
Though the act was activated in the country since long, the rural people even the public representatives of local government like the chairmen and members of the union parishad were not aware of the law.
Because of the ignorance of these people's representatives it is still a common phenomenon for the poor community to remain deprived of the legal services or become poorer in maintaining a case at the district judge's court.
These people usually became the victim of human rights violation from the traditional village dispute resolving system of 'Salish'.
"Earlier, we had to go to the district judge's court and hire a lawyer for resolving small disputes and had to wait for long years to get the verdict and even when we got the justice that result was less than the benefits we got compared to what we had spent as the expenses for lawyers and court fees and communication", said Rahim Mollah, a 50-year old farmer of the Kendua union in Madaripur Sadar Upazila.
On every Thursday a village court sits at the Kendua Upazila with the support of Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA), which usually resolve five to six disputes in a week.
The court was formed with a five-member jury board headed by the Union Parishad (UP) chairman while other juries are two including one member of the local UP were selected by the petitioner side and other two including one UP member by the accused side.
After hearing both the sides the UP chairman as per the decision of the juries declares the verdict.
The village court has the provision of resolving cases, which will have Tk 50,000 financial implications.
"The proceedings at the village court is very transparent and credible as the verdict is declared as per the judgement of the juries selected by the petitioners and the accused and in front of all villagers", Kendua UP chairman Shah Mohammad Rayhan Kabir said.
People of the locality after activation of the village court do not go to the district judge's court unless there is major criminal offences like murder as they prefer the village court because they get justice speedily only spending taka five, the UP chairman said.