Union Parishad is a century old rural institution in Bangladesh, which has been instituted, grown, and maintained by the people of the rural areas. It is a longstanding popular service delivery center, which people trust highly at the village level. Since its establishment, the Union Parishad has been linked with informal justice systems like the Shalish, which is compatible with rural population being keen on using accessible, fast, and cheap systems of resolving disputes as opposed to the time-consuming and costly processes of the formal courts. In an attempt to enhance the shortcomings of the traditional Shalish, Village Courts were formally established in the mid-1970s in an effort to enhance the delivery of justice in rural areas. In the long run, Village Courts were ineffective with poor functioning and institutional problems. In this regard, the current research was carried out in rural settings to consider Village Courts as an alternative to justice in Bangladesh. The paper adopted a mixed-method research design, where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The information was gathered using in-depth interviews of 30 respondents who were selected and 9 case studies using a structured checklist. According to its findings, it can be stated that despite existing limitations and operational weaknesses, Village Courts still have the significant role in resolving the local disputes and ensuring that the social peace and harmony within the rural communities. The research claims that the Village Courts can be a viable alternative to the formal justice system when they are properly reformed and supported by the institutions. The main areas of difficulty are; lack of implementation capacity, ineffective record management, and lack of knowledge in the personnel concerned. Government and non-government bodies must strengthen supervision, capacity building, training and awareness programs so as to increase the effectiveness of the Village Courts.

DOI : http://doi.org/10.71253/jsd-iswr.dec25.34.1.04

Authors : Dr. Saidur Rahman

Keywords : Village Court, Justice System, Alternative Justice