But, special guest of the convention Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Barrister Moudud Ahmed said he could not say for sure when the judiciary would be separated.

"It's a huge task and cannot be done overnight. We have lack of manpower and, so, taking some 600 magistrates away from the administration will surely take much time," the minister rationalised.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) organised the meeting at the city's IDB Bhaban to mark the closure of the Campaign on Human Security in Bangladesh, a UNDP-funded project.

Addressing the gathering, the chief justice said, "In any civil society, there must be an improved mechanism for the protection of life and property of all citizens and an effective system for dispensation of justice."

"Unfortunately, in our country the condition of human rights and security have not been improved so satisfactorily as required for lack of public awareness and effective judicial mechanism," he noted.

CJ Mudassir Hussain emphasised elimination of all forms of deprivation affecting people of all walks of life to achieve a sustainable human development and to protect human rights. And that, he said, "could be possible only through strengthening of the democratic institutions and providing an independent judiciary having command over the hearts and minds of the people."

He also observed that the concept of human rights and human security become meaningless for the poor and indigent people. "In fact, poverty not only denies access to justice but also makes the poor people unconscious about their right to get justice," he added.

If the judiciary were not made accessible to all including the poor and disadvantaged, the whole concept of human security and dignity would be nothing more than a theoretical and futile exercise, the chief of judiciary said.

The CJ also regretted the huge backlog of cases in the courts and delay in dispensation of justice.

But Law Minister Moudud Ahmed quipped that the country has a very active judiciary, which frequently issues show-cause notices on the government.

He also claimed that the country has all the preconditions of good governance including a fine constitution, a parliament, an independent judiciary, a free media, vibrant private sector and NGOs, and an elected democratic government.

However he admitted to some weaknesses in the judicial system, particularly in criminal justice and public prosecution service, which now functions only at an ad hoc stage.

Lack of an independent investigation system is also a setback in bringing criminals to trial, Moudud said. To remove the weakness, he announced, the government has undertaken an initiative to set up independent investigation units in 300 police stations.

Thirty such units, which do not engage in the regular police activities, have already come into operation.

UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Advocate Sigma Huda, who presided over the function, stressed the need of introducing a human rights commission and a speedy separation of the judiciary.

A report of the Campaign on Human Security in Bangladesh was also presented at the meeting. Under the one-year project, BNWLA conducted a countrywide campaign on the key findings of a UNDP study in 2002 on the human security issues and concerns in Bangladesh. It held 31 district-level workshops participated by cross-section of people including members of administration, judiciary, local government, bar and civil society.

The campaign found high cost of litigation, outdated laws, lack of access to judiciary, political pressure and intervention, lack of co-operation among the agencies concerned, biased and lengthy investigation, pervasive bribery and nepotism in recruitment of police, and people's lack of legal awareness as some of the cardinal concerns.

The report recommended speedier trial, revision of the Code of Civil Procedure, separation of investigation and other police officers, more media exposure, raising public awareness, stepped up co-operation among the agencies and GO-NGO partnership in legal aid to improve the human security and rights situation.

UNDP Resident Representative Jorgen Lissner, Netherlands Ambassador Kees Beemsterboer and BNWLA Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali also spoke at the seminar.