Village courts in Rangpur have resolved more than 5,800 cases in the last one year in 41 unions of five upazilas of district.
The village courts accepted 5,880 cases in Rangpur during the July-2017 and April-2019 period, including 5,662 cases directly filed by rural justice seekers and 218 cases forwarded by the district level judicial courts.
The information was revealed at the ‘Annual progress review meeting on Village Courts-2019’ held at Circuit House conference room in Rangpur on Sunday, reports BSS.
District administration organised the event under Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh (2nd phase) Project, being implemented by the Local Government Division with financial assistance of the European Union and UNDP.
Seventy participants, including upazila and union parisahd chairmen, Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs), government and NGO officials, civil society members and journalists attended the meeting.
Deputy Commissioner Enamul Habib attended the event as chief guest with Deputy Director (Local Government) Syed Farhad Hossain in the chair.
On behalf of the UNDP, District Facilitator of the project Md. Matiur Rahman gave a presentation on the goals of the project, progress achieved so far and prevailing challenges.
Participants of the meeting observed that the village courts are bringing justice to rural people benefiting them by resolving minor disputes at their doorsteps through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
A number of Union Parishad chairmen narrated their experiences in running the Village Court and opined for raising its power to impose monetary penalty.
They also sought necessary administrative cooperation for execution of decisions of the village courts.