For the first time in Bangladesh’s history, civil and criminal courts have been fully separated in a major judicial reform. The government expects this move will accelerate case disposal and ease the decades-long backlog.
Previously, joint district judges, additional district judges, and district judges handled both civil and criminal cases, contributing to judicial delays. At present, around 1.6 million civil cases and 2.3 million criminal cases remain pending in lower courts across the country.
Despite the higher number of criminal cases, judges were tasked with managing both types. To address this, the government has established 203 new additional sessions courts and 367 joint sessions courts, where judges will now exclusively preside over criminal matters.