Judiciary must be foundation for reform of all sectors: CJ

Banglapress Published: 23 September 2025, 10:25 AM

Judiciary must be foundation for reform of all sectors: CJ

Bangla Press Desk: Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has said that the judiciary must be the foundation for other sector reforms in any transition from an unjust and dictatorial regime to stable, peaceful and prosperous democracies. He said this in a video message for the Opening Panel of the 2025 Annual Meeting on Rule of Law and Human Rights, held in New York on Tuesday. He said the far-reaching and transformative reforms of the judiciary must be the foundation for other sector reforms in any transition from unjust and dictatorial regimes to stable, peaceful and prosperous democracies. As guardian of constitutionality, legality and human rights compliance of all other reform efforts, the judiciary must be the first to liberate itself from dictatorial grips and transform itself into an independent and trusted arbiter providing effective remedies for all seeking justice before our courts, he said.

He mentioned that he inherited a backlog of more than 4.2 million cases and the deeply rooted distrust in a judiciary, crippled by ever growing political instrumentalization. Mentioning about spirit of the July uprisings, Refaat said, “Since assuming office as Chief Justice of Bangladesh, the legacies of those young men and women who paid the ultimate price in the protests have guided my mission and hardened my resolve to restore equity and justice through a transformative agenda for judicial reform.” He also said, “Our work in Bangladesh over the past nine months is a prime example of both, the centrality of rule of law reforms in countries in transitions, and of the UN’s – and in particular UNDP’s – ability to effectively support profound and far-reaching justice reforms with its broad and specialised expertise and its agility to scale up, deploy and tailor support as required for transformative change.” He said that UNDP supports them in their implementation with technical expertise, including on alignment with international standards and norms and advice on integrity, digital transformation, people-centred approaches and outreach advice.

Bangladesh must be an example of a transition towards a better future, our resolute pursuance of justice reform in volatile and challenging circumstances must remain a pillar of hope for all Bangladeshi men and women that the promise of fundamental reforms towards a peaceful, stable, more equal and prosperous future is being kept. When justice is absent, it will be vindicated on the streets. Reinstating justice leads us to peace, stability and the promotion of human rights, he also mentioned. This article was originally published on Daily Sun. [Bangla Press is a global platform for free thought. It provides impartial news, analysis, and commentary for independent-minded individuals. Our goal is to bring about positive change, which is more important today than ever before.] BP/ZE

[Bangla Press is a global platform for free thought. It provides impartial news, analysis, and commentary for independent-minded individuals. Our goal is to bring about positive change, which is more important today than ever before.]

Judiciary must be foundation for reform of all sectors: CJ

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