SC goes virtual trial proceedings from Wednesday

The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to conduct virtual judicial proceedings from Wednesday, amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh.

The Supreme Court administration issued separate circulars announcing the decision on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique hinted at the possibility of reintroducing virtual trial proceedings.

"Citing the worsening Covid-19 situation, it seems that we'll have to conduct trials through virtual courts again. Many cases were disposed of during the virtual court hearing," he said while conducting judicial activities at the Appellate Division.

Thirteen judges of the High Court division and a number of judges and staff have been found infected with Covid-19, he added.

The activities in all courts of the country remained suspended for several days due to the Covid-19 surge.

On 10 May last year, an ordinance was promulgated allowing courts to run trial proceedings through video conferences and availing of other digital facilities.

President Abdul Hamid promulgated the ordinance.

Later, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued a gazette notification, saying that it will take immediate effect.

On 10 May, the High Court formed three benches for hearing urgent cases virtually and directed the subordinate courts concerned to hear cases related to emergency bail.

All the judicial activities of benches under the High Court division of the Supreme Court resumed virtually from 11 August, 2020.

The Cabinet on 7 May, 2020 cleared the draft of an ordinance to pave the way for courts to run trial proceedings through videoconferences and other digital means using the information technology.

Meanwhile, the judicial activities of both the High Court and Supreme Court divisions conducted in physical presence maintaining health protocols from 1 December, 2021.