Govt keen to include ADR in existing laws, says minister

Dhaka (Dec 26 2020): The government is working on to incorporate alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provisions in different existing laws of the country to make commercial dispute resolution process easier and less time consuming.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Saturday told this at a virtual discussion organised by the Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) to mark its 9th anniversary.

He said in view of the ongoing extraordinary circumstances that has emerged from Covid-19, the government under the definitive instruction by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has enacted 'Use of Information Technology by the Court Act 2020' to carry out trials through digital means.

“Our judiciary has already started conducting court proceedings via video conferencing. However, we are yet to go a long way regarding the virtual form of ADR,” he said.

The law minister suggested that virtual ADR practices can either be based on phone conferences or internet supported video conferences.

He also opined that in view of the backlog of court cases with over 3.6 million cases pending in all courts of Bangladesh, ADR is now imperative to take the country forward towards the goal of economic development during this time of ‘death and destruction’ being caused by the pandemic.

Justice Md. Rezaul Hasan (M. R. Hasan) of the High Court Division, said provisions of ADR in the Arbitration Act 2001 has been indicated. He gave a few suggestions for amendment of the existing arbitration law so that enforcement of foreign arbitral award is simplified and quality of arbitrators is ensured.

Md. Moinul Kabir, secretary of the legislative and parliamentary affairs division of the ministry of law, termed BIAC as an iconic institution in promoting arbitration and mediation.

“As Bangladesh is now graduating to a developing country, BIAC, by promoting ADR, will help attract more FDIs in the country,” he said.

Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of BIAC Board and president of International Chamber of Commerce -Bangladesh, requested the law minister to allocate some funds to BIAC for its sustainability. He said that in the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic, BIAC, the not-for-profit institution, has been running short of funds as foreign training has totally discontinued for nearly a year.

Chief Executive Officer of BIAC Muhammad A. (Rumee) Ali said that developed countries have built up firm ADR infrastructure and in view of Bangladesh’s ranking 189th among 190 economies in the enforcing contracts index of the World Bank’s doing business ranking; it is time for Bangladesh to ensure that business disputes be resolved as much as possible before going to the courts.

Barrister Fida M Kamal, former Attorney General of Bangladesh, Ali Reza Iftekhar, chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh and managing director of Eastern Bank, Nihad Kabir, president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Shams Mahmud, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry also spoke on the occasion.