Navigation:

The map of Bangladesh shows the five districts covered by the Justice Audit.

Click on Comilla: a map of the district will appear with Upazilas outlined.
Click on any of the Upazilas and a number of blots will appear, each corresponds to a Union Parishad (UP) and Village Court.
Click on a blot and a pop up will appear indicating the characteristics of the VC.

Context: Village Courts (VCs) are mandated under the Village Court Act 2006 (amended 2013) and allows all civil and criminal disputes to be settled at the UP level up to a value of BDT 75,000 (see: Library/Laws)

In a few districts, VCs have been ‘activated’ ie they have been equipped with forms, a bench and chairs (ejlas) and a Village Court Assistant. None of the VCs in Comilla fall under this programme (EU/UNDP).

Key findings:

Penetration of the VCs is minimal although some are functioning: four UPs were visited under the Justice Audit and interviews were conducted with panel members, the administrator and the public. The data does not appear to be centrally collected.
Practitioner Surveys indicate user satisfaction with the VC in terms of cost, speed of resolution, ease of access and absence of ‘harassment’.

Going forward: The Department of Local Government, is committed to scaling up the activation of these courts throughout Bangladesh (currently the programme assists 350 UPs out of more than 4000 with EU support).

The intention here is to track the activation of the courts with new data going forward.