Even without appearing in court, one can participate in the proceedings of the case from distant locations. The trial will be conducted through audio-video conferencing. A coordinator will coordinate these court-conducted proceedings.
Chief Justice Hasan Faiz Siddiqui issued these ‘Practice Instructions’ on Sunday (August 20) under the authority of Section 5 of the Information Technology Use Act, 2020.
In this instruction issued to the judges of the subordinate courts, it has been stated that all the judges, including any party, witness, accused person, lawyer, expert and any person related to the case from the court room, can be present in the case through audio-visual mode using information technology, taking testimony and hearing.
‘Remote Edge’ – means a place where a litigant, witness, accused or lawyer is physically present and attends court proceedings through audio-video conferencing. Remote means any place outside the country, or including prisons, hospitals, safe homes, certified institutions, child development centers, protective custody, Supreme Court Legal Aid Offices, forensic laboratories. A person nominated by the concerned organization will act as coordinator.
In case of foreign countries, an officer of the concerned Bangladeshi Consulate/Embassy/High Commission will be the coordinator.
The instructions also state that all persons required for conferencing in such proceedings should be ready at the remote end at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time. No unauthorized recording devices may be used. No unauthorized person can enter the conference room during audio-video conference. The person being examined shall not be induced, influenced, coerced in any way and no document, script or device shall be shown to the person being examined during the conference without the permission of the court concerned.
On the application of the parties, witnesses, accused persons, lawyers, experts or the court itself, the proceedings of any stage of the case can be ordered through audio-video conference.
After receiving such application and hearing the concerned persons, the court shall decide whether audio-video conferencing is necessary in this case. If the application is granted, the court will schedule the audio-video conference. In the application for audio-video conference, the information related to national identity card number, telephone number, email ID should be mentioned for the convenience of identification of all parties concerned along with the specific reason for attendance hearing or taking testimony through audio-video conference.
In case of accused or witness detained in jail, application can be made through jail authorities. After the audio-video conferencing process is over, the court will specify the time and duration of the conferencing in the order and mention the name of the software/platform used in the conferencing. Besides, the court will mention in its satisfaction order regarding its audio, video and connection during conferencing.
