Outgoing chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has said it is essential to formulate a law for the appointment of justice as per the directives of the constitution.
This would make the task of appointing justices fast and transparent, he said adding baseless perceptions of the people over the transparency of appointment of justices will be dispelled.
The chief justice said this in a valedictory speech at his farewell programme on Wednesday. Country’s 22nd chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain will retire on 30 December.
But today (15 December) would be his last day at office due to holiday of Victory Day, weekly holiday and vacation of the Supreme Court, which will begin from Thursday.
As per the custom, the office of the attorney general and Supreme Court Lawyers’ Association accord a felicitation to the outgoing chief justice. The programme was organised at chamber no. 1 of the chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.
Justices and lawyers of both the divisions of the Supreme Court were present at the event.
Need to double the number of judges
Chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain said, “It is undeniable that the number of our judges is insufficient in respect to the number of lawsuits. It is necessary to double the number of judges, from the lower to the higher courts gradually, to get rid of case backlog. I’m glad that the government has started proceedings with the view to compose a law for the appointment of judges in High Court.”
Mentioning that though the government has been working for the infrastructural development of the judiciary, many districts are yet to have any judicial magistrate building, the chief justice said, “Cases will be disposed of quickly if the physical and virtual courts operate simultaneously, I believe.”
People’s trust is the source of judiciary’s power
Addressing the justices, the outgoing chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain said people’s trust is the source of the power of an independent judiciary. This is people’s unflinching trust in the integrity, capacity and impartiality of the justice. To gain this trust, the judges, on the one hand, have to have high ethical integrity, at the same time, they must remain aware of ever developing and changing acts, technological changes and social values. This could only be gained through regular study and disposing of cases on time and following the law rigorously.
The chief justice said, “This is undeniable that the huge number of case backlog is a great challenge for us. But the judges have to work harder to decrease the case backlog and continue having people’s trust.”
Syed Mahmud Hossain requested all the judges to conduct trial with affection to the justice seekers.
Bar and benches have to remain active against irregularities
Addressing the lawyers, the chief justice said life of a lawyer is not smooth. Regular study, industry, integrity, patience, punctuality and devotion are necessary to reach the pinnacle of success. The lawyers' study, brilliance and discretion have to be applied in dealing every case. A lawyer must never present an incident under trial in a distorted manner. Their main objective is to help a court reach at the fair decision through analysing evidences and deposition and legal analysis.
Bar and benches have to remain active against all kinds of irregularities to keep intact the dignity of the profession.
“Lawyers and judges are like two feathers of a bird, like the two hands. Their mutual reliance could increase the quality of trial,” said Syed Mahmud Hossain.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin addressed the function at the beginning while senior vice president of Supreme Court Lawyers’ Association Muhammad Shafiq Ullah spoke about the life of the chief justice.
Biography
Syed Mahmud Hossain was born on 31 December 1954. His father was Syed Mustafa Ali and mother Begum Kausar Jahan. His father was senior lawyer at Cumilla district court. His father-in-law Abdul Khaleq is a former inspector general of police.
After completing his BSC and LLB degrees, Syed Mahmud Hossain began his career as lawyer at a district judge court in 1981. He was included as a High Court lawyer in 1983.
Syed Mahmud Hossain studied at London University School of Oriental African Studies (SOAS) and Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS).
He was appointed as a deputy attorney general in 1999. He was appointed as additional justice of the High Court Division on 22 February 2001 for two years.
On 22 February 2003, he was appointed as permanent justice in the same department. On 23 February 2011, he was appointed as the Appellate Division's justice.
On 2 February 2018, Syed Mahmud Hossain was appointed as the 22nd chief justice of Bangladesh. He took oath on the next day.
He was also the chairman of the search committee formed to form the election commission twice.