Muhammad Imman Ali is a retired justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He received the Duke of Edinburgh Scholarship for Call to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. He was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court Division in February 2001 and Appellate Division in February 2011. He was Deputy Attorney General for Bangladesh from September 1998 to February 2001.

Justice Ali is a prominent figure in children’s rights advocacy. He has played a crucial role in reforming laws, training legal professionals, and ensuring children’s rights are upheld. His work has been recognized internationally, earning him the “Juvenile Justice without Borders International Award” by International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), Brussels in 2014.

Justice Ali is a pioneer in legal reforms and technology adoption in Bangladesh’s judiciary. His efforts in promoting mediation have been recognized with the International Mediation Award from the Africa-Asia Mediation Association in 2020. He has also been instrumental in promoting judicial transparency through e-filing, reforming prison systems and ensuring prisoner rights.

In this part of JURIST’s exclusive Post-Transition Bangladesh interview series with Senior Editor Tarazi Mohammed Sheikh, Justice Ali discusses judicial independence, political interference, formation of special tribunal, and the importance of technology and mediation in strengthening the judiciary.

The first part of this series with Professor Ali Riaz on Enhancing Governance through Foreign Policies in Bangldesh is linked here. 

JURIST: How do you view the current state of judicial independence in Bangladesh? What specific reforms would you propose to strengthen the judiciary’s autonomy from political influence, particularly during the period of the interim government?

Muhammad Imman Ali: Judicial independence is dependent on three factors: (1) the existence of rule of law; (2) the integrity and moral strength of the judge; and (3) the lack of morals and callous disregard of the rule of law on the part of the controlling authority concerned.

No matter what government is in power, it is essential that the rule of law is understood and ensured, not only for the litigant public but also for the sustainability of democracy. Judges must be allowed to perform their duties free from any fear or influence. There must be acceptable salary structure, security of tenure of their jobs, freedom from influence, demoralising behaviour on the part of the controlling authority, by way of undue transfer and unfair demotion.

There should be provision in place for an independent authority (Judicial Service Commission) to regularly assess and monitor the performance of every judge so that in case of failure to perform he may be warned and, if necessary, dismissed from service. The existing Annual Confidential Report (ACR) system is subjective, faulty and unfair.

JURIST: When discussing reform, constitutional amendments and major legal changes motivated by political interests often come to the forefront. In your view, what can be done to prevent future governments from repeating this, and what role can the judiciary play in safeguarding against such interests?

Muhammad Imman Ali: Governments will always try to manipulate/amend the constitution and laws to suit their political requirements. My personal view is that even the constitution is not engraved in stone and can be amended by the mandate of the people through their representatives. What is essential is to retain checks and balances so that the judiciary can intervene when laws are made contrary to the provisions of the constitution, keeping in mind always that laws are made for the benefit of the people and that the rule of law must be upheld to ensure justice according to law.

JURIST: There are calls to form a special tribunal to address past human rights violations and corruption charges. How do you view this approach? And, what, in your opinion, would be an effective way to address the unaddressed violations of the past?

Muhammad Imman Ali: Human rights violations, in particular crimes against humanity, must be addressed in accordance with national and international law, otherwise the public will lose confidence in the legal system and are likely to take the law into their own hands to avenge those violations. However, the only reason to establish special tribunals for the purpose would be to avoid congestion in the already overburdened justice delivery system. If a separate tribunal is set up, then it must have procedure ensuring due process.

Corruption is a serious malignancy and a threat to every society, and hence, must be rooted out with ruthless ferocity, otherwise those who indulge in corruption become emboldened and others follow suit. Corruption erodes and destabilises the rule of law and thereby undermines the justice delivery system.

JURIST: Judicial appointments have often been criticised for being influenced. What advice would you offer to the interim government and the subsequent elected government to improve the process, ensuring that appointments are merit-based and unbiased?

Muhammad Imman Ali: My suggestion would be to establish an independent Judicial Appointments Commission so that appointments of judges in the Supreme Court will be made on merit, based on a written test on decision making in a court case scenario, also taking into account academic attainments, temperament, integrity, diversity etc. The same body would also monitor and periodically assess the performance and competence of the judges of the Supreme Court through refresher courses. Since the Commission will be tasked to assess the calibre of the judge for appointment, it can do the same to assess the calibre for continuation as a judge. Continuous assessment will also keep the judge on his toes so that he will always strive to do better. The Constitution will need to be amended to allow for removal of judges for lack of competence/unsuitability, which may creep in after initial appointment due to age or other factors. Without such provisions in place, once appointed the judge may become complacent/arrogant. At the same time there must be security of tenure so that the judge may function without fear or favour.

JURIST: Having had a long and distinguished career in the Bangladesh judiciary dedicated to upholding the rule of law in various capacities, what final advice would you offer to your successors and those in judicial positions to enhance public trust in the judiciary?

Muhammad Imman Ali: My advice to all would be to dispense justice in accordance with law without favour or fear, come rain or sunshine.

Muhammad Imman Ali additionally notes: The most important aspect of reform in the judiciary is having a transparent justice delivery system in place so that corruption in the judicial system can be eradicated. This can be done using technology for automation and by streamlining procedures in order to cut out middlemen and reduce delays. Ways must be devised to reduce the huge backlog of cases now standing at about 4 million. Bangladesh is about 50 years behind in the use of IT for case management.

Access to justice is a cornerstone for ensuring rule of law. ADR is a way of disposing of cases more quickly, efficiently and at less expense. However, the system must be tweaked in order to get full benefit for the litigant public. Popularisation and mandating use of mediation and arbitration will go a long way providing easier access to justice. A great deal can be achieved by using virtual methods of case disposal. The possibilities were used to provide access to justice during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, most of the reforms mentioned have been resisted in the past by the lawyer community and will require training and encouragement through practical demonstration. Mediation can be taken to the lowest level, i.e. Union Parishod where the litigant public will have easy access and quick disposal, avoiding the court altogether.

Surprisingly, most lawyers do not yet know that mediation is mandatory in civil matters, as provided by the Code of Civil Procedure and in other matters as provided by special laws. And yet the process is hardly ever used due to lack of understanding of the benefits and perhaps also due to misplaced apprehension in the minds of lawyers that they will lose their caseload. All the hurdles can be overcome by training and publicity aimed at the litigant public of the benefits of mediation.