An online Full Court Meeting of the Supreme Court judges on Sunday decided to request the president to promulgate an ordinance making provisions for online operation of the courts across the country.
The meeting also decided not to operate regular courts during the general holiday now in force to check coronavirus spread.
Chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain presided over the online Full Court Meeting, the first of its kind in the history of the country’s history, which was attended by most of the 103 SC judges and lasted for about two hours.
Several judges attending the meeting told that the meeting empowered the chief justice to request the president to promulgate the ordinance as the parliament was not in sessions.
The meeting also decided to form a committee to amend the rules for both the Appellate Division and the High Court Division making provisions for online court operation, they said.
The meeting also decided to train SC judges and court staff on online court operation, they added.
They said that the meeting asked the district and metropolitan sessions judges to stay at their stations and remain prepared to operate courts, if needed.
The judges said that most of their colleagues suggested that regular courts should not operate during the ongoing holiday considering health risk of the judges, lawyers, court staff and litigants.
Many of the judges suggested that courts should operate online during the coronavirus holiday and two Appellate Division judges cited such court operations in other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and India.
Some of the some of the judges, however, observed that the existing laws did not allow such court operation and other countries were operating courts online making amendment to the laws.
The meeting decided that provisions for online court operation should be made amending the related laws and the president could amend the law promulgating an ordinance.
