They said the Union Parishad chairmen who act as judges in the village courts should be well educated and properly trained and they must not be politically biased while delivering judgements.

Madaripur Legal Aid Association organised the roundtable titled 'Mobilising opinion on the reforms of Village Court Ordinance 1976' at the National Press Club in the city.

Presenting a survey on the village courts in Madaripur, Dr Mirza Hassan of Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) said the Village Court Ordinance was formulated 30 years ago, but it has not been reformed so far in line with the economic and social changes.

Making the court more effective through development of necessary infrastructures is a must as it is a vital tool in helping the rural women and the poor, he said.

He also noted that the village courts where the UP chairmen are comparatively younger and educated are more active.

In some cases, however, the UP chairmen have shown reluctance to conduct trial for political reasons, Dr Mirza said and called for making it mandatory for the chairmen to conduct trial.

"It has been observed that the chairmen who accept the cases and conduct trial are more popular in their areas," said Advocate Fazlul Haque, secretary of Madaripur Legal Aid Association.

Presiding over the roundtable, Justice Naimuddin Ahmed said making judgement is a highly technical and professional procedure and those who are sitting in judgement should have extensive knowledge and professional skills.

Advocate Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra, said the people today are more interested in informal justice system rather than the formal one because they think they have to face harassment in the formal system.

She said strengthening the village court is linked to strengthening the local government, but there is no political commitment in this regard.

Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, country director of the Hunger Project, said the UP chairmen are aligned with political parties and carry out executive functions. So, empowering them to make judgement is not consistent with the principle of the separation of the judiciary, he added.

Journalist Ataus Samad and Acting Editor of the Saptahik 2000 Golam Mortoza also spoke at the roundtable.