Law Minister Cites 62% Drop in Lawsuits

Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md. Asaduzzaman has virtually inaugurated the mandatory pre-case mediation program across 10 districts. The inaugural ceremony was held on Tuesday (July 21) at the conference room of the Ministry of Law in Dhaka, presided over by Md. Monjur Hossain, Director General of the National Legal Aid Services Organization. Law and Justice Division Secretary Liaquat Ali Mollah attended as a special guest.

Joining virtually, speeches were also delivered by Jessore District and Sessions Judge Mahmuda Khatun, Cox's Bazar Chief Judicial Magistrate Abu Saleh Mohammad Noman, District Legal Aid Officer Abhijit Chowdhury, and District Bar Association President Advocate Mohammad Abdul Mannan.

It was revealed at the event that under a pilot project in 20 districts, comparing the February–May period of 2025 to the same period in 2026, the filing of new cases under various laws dropped significantly:

• Family Court Act: Cases decreased from 3,559 to 1,744 (approx. 51% drop).

• Partition Suits (Civil Judge Court): Decreased from 2,001 to 661 (66.97% drop).

• Pre-emption Cases (State Acquisition & Tenancy Act): Decreased from 17 to 2 (88.24% drop).

• Non-Agricultural Tenancy Act: Decreased from 31 to 14 (54.84% drop).

• Dowry Prohibition Act: Dropped from 5,605 to 1,810 (67.71% drop).

• Maintenance of Parents Act: Reduced from 43 to 35 (18.60% drop).

Overall, new case filings decreased by an average of 62.02%.

Speaking as the chief guest, Law Minister Md. Asaduzzaman stated, "Mandatory pre-case mediation offers litigants a fast and accessible path to dispute resolution. It has already yielded promising results by significantly reducing new court filings. Effectively implementing this initiative will drive major progress in resolving the country's long-standing case backlog."

He urged judges to refer negotiable pending cases to District Legal Aid Offices to speed up the judicial process, expressing optimism that joint efforts could significantly reduce pending cases within a year.

Acknowledging that over 100,000 cases are currently pending in Cox's Bazar, he instructed officials to visibly reduce the backlog over the next three months, adding that progress will be reviewed on September 30.

The Minister thanked development partners JICA, GIZ, and UNDP for their technical support. Addressing mediators, he urged them to treat their role as a public service challenge rather than just a job, reiterating the government's "Zero Tolerance" policy against any form of corruption in mediation processes.
//DBTech/DMRK/MSI//