Interviews with Bar Association (one senior lawyer in each district)
	Interview Date	29.12.13	02.12.2013	08.12.2013	01.12.13
Q. No.	Questions	Comilla	Gopalgonj	Madaripur	Mymensingh	Rangpur
1a	How many women lawyers are practicing in the district?	112	11	14	40	50
1b	How many men lawyers are practicing in the district?	710	170	179	1160	350-400
2a	How many of your members practice almost exclusively civil law?	1	29	46	200	150
2b	How many of your members practice almost exclusively criminal law?	1	115	91	600	200
2c	How many of your members frequently practice both civil and criminal law?		37	56 (Approximately 150 members practice.)	400	many do both
3	How would you describe your experience working with the national legal aid scheme (DLAC)? What are the main problems?	lawyers don't work properly, every month we approve 40 cases	Good	Good > Created problems due to lack of transparency in case of costs for getting bail and receiving copies.	Good > The Honorarium allowence for the lawyers is  Insufficient	Good
4	Are you paid the specified fee by DLAC?	we don't have any fees.  We are doing it voluntarily	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes -- get fees from client
5	Are you paid on time by DLAC?	n/a	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
6	In criminal matters, when do you typically first meet with your client?	meet before the date	Other > In Chamber	At first court appearance	1. At first court appearance 2. Before plea is entered 3. At Trial	At the first court appearance
7a	What is the fee range charged for private clients for Bail application? Insert range (BDT)	there is no specific fee. We fixed free based on the cases & clients.	500-1000	Taking fees depend on the affordibility of clients.	There is no fixed fee. It varies depending on the case gravity, clients social & economical status.	It actually depends on the clients, clients income. Difficult to tell you the exact figure
7b	What is the fee range charged for private clients for Magistrates court? Insert range (BDT)	there is no specific fee. We fixed free based on the cases & clients.	200-500	Taking fees depend on the affordibility of clients.	There is no fixed fee. It varies depending on the case gravity, clients social & economical status.	It actually depends on the clients, clients income. Difficult to tell you the exact figure
7c	What is the fee range charged for private clients for Sessions court? Insert range (BDT)	there is no specific fee. We fixed free based on the cases & clients.	500-2000	Taking fees depend on the affordibility of clients.	There is no fixed fee. It varies depending on the case gravity, clients social & economical status.	It actually depends on the clients, clients income. Difficult to tell you the exact figure
7d	What is the fee range charged for private clients for Death penalty cases? Insert range (BDT)	there is no specific fee. We fixed free based on the cases & clients.	500-2000	Taking fees depend on the affordibility of clients.	There is no fixed fee. It varies depending on the case gravity, clients social & economical status.	It actually depends on the clients, clients income. Difficult to tell you the exact figure
7e	What is the fee range charged for private clients for Appeals? Insert range (BDT)	there is no specific fee. We fixed free based on the cases & clients.	3000-5000	Taking fees depend on the affordibility of clients.	There is no fixed fee. It varies depending on the case gravity, clients social & economical status.	It actually depends on the clients, clients income. Difficult to tell you the exact figure
8	Is there any pre-trial hearing to improve case management e.g. agree witnesses, pleases and evidence?	this provision is applied  in cases of family matter.	No	Yes	Yes	Yes -- have family court
9	What is the average time between entering a plea and starting a trial?	6-7 months	Trial starts soon after the framing of charges.	Different cases different times are required.	It depends on the number of the trial cases (pending) in that concerned court.	6-8 months to start the examination; 3 months after the framing of the charges
10	What percent of accused persons are women?	20%	Less than 5%	Not easy enough to mention.	Less than 5%	2%
11	What are the main offences for which women face trial?	drug related offences		Drug related offences	Drug related offences	drug related offences
12	What proportion  of trials are concluded by way of guilty plea?	not even a single	Other > 1%	<25%	<25%	5%
13	What proportion of cases end in conviction?	10%	About 1/4	Very few		most
14	What proportion of cases are compoundable?	5%	75%	Few.	Its very difficult to find out the actual percentance of Compoundable offences/Cases	60%
15	What proportion of cases end in settlement?	2%	50%	Enough.	30%	30%
16	What is the main challenge legal practitioners face in criminal proceedings?	Non-appearance of witness	1. Open discussion 2. Witness; specially police 3. Witnesses don't come in time.	Huge coverage of corruption and lack of Judges.	Witness don’t appear in due time.	open discussion, appear the witness
17	Do lawyers have a code of conduct?	Yes -- we need to conduct according to the provision of the bar association	Yes > It is guided by the Bangladesh Bar Council Act.		We follow the code of conduct  determined by Bangladesh Bar Council	According to the bar council act
18	How many complaints against practicing lawyers have you received per year?	50	Guessing, against 20- 30 people.	Few (2-3 in a year).	In 4-5 years complaints against 2-3 lawyers	Very few 1-2 complaints
19	What action did you take in response to the complaints received?	First we try to compound the case or if the case is so grave then we send it to the bar council	In a single sitting step is taken through settlement.	Fair	Dispose case by discussing with the Complainants	Y