The much-expected separation of the judiciary now requires only an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as per the 12-point directive of the Supreme Court (SC) given in 1999.

Earlier, President Iajuddin Ahmed, and the newly appointed chief adviser signed the documents of the four rules.

The whole process was done in a hasty move as the Supreme Court (SC) deadline for publishing the gazette notifications of the four rules ends today.

The rules are, Judicial Service Commission Rule 2002, Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission Rule 2002, Bangladesh Judicial Service (Service Constitution, Composition, Recruitment, Suspension, Dismissal and Removal) Rules 2002, and Bangladesh Judicial Service (Posting, Promotion, Leave, Control, Discipline and other Service Condition) Rules 2001.

If the rules are implemented, the magistrates who work under the executive branch of the government now will come under the authority of the Supreme Court, and the lower court will also be free of government control.

Sources said the law, finance and establishment secretaries went to the chief adviser's office with all files on the four rules last evening.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed signed the documents and sent them for the president's approval.

Law Secretary Md Alauddin Sarder last night told The Daily Star that after the president had signed the documents, government officials concerned took them to the BG Press for publishing the gazette notifications.

He said the rules have been formulated absolutely in accordance with the SC judgment.

"We are preparing to amend the CrPC also as per the Supreme Court's direction," he said, adding that the task for preparing its draft has already been started.

It now depends on the government when it will pass the amendment in parliament, he said.

On January 10, the full bench of the Appellate Division of SC ordered the government to publish four rules on separation of the judiciary from the executive through a gazette notification within a week.

The newly appointed caretaker government asked the concerned ministries to quickly place the documents relevant to the rules before the chief adviser before expiry of the SC deadline, sources said.

Law Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein told The Daily Star last night that the chief adviser signed the documents and sent them to the president before the meeting of the advisory council around 8:00pm.

Meanwhile, a highly placed source at the attorney general's office told The Daily Star yesterday evening, "We will submit the gazettes to the Supreme Court tomorrow if the government publishes them by then."

A hearing of the case regarding the separation of the judiciary from the executive branch of the government is scheduled for today.

The government has so far been given 22 deadlines since 1999 -- mostly during the tenure of the BNP-led four-party alliance government -- to implement the 12-point SC directive on separation of the judiciary.

On November 27 last year, the Appellate Division, aggrieved by the government's repeated delays, asked the latter to implement the 12 directives within six weeks and submit reports on the progress to the court.

At the next hearing of the matter on January 10, the court said it would issue contempt rule against all government officials concerned, including the attorney general, if the government does not satisfactorily explain why it is delaying the implementation of judiciary separation.

On January 26, 2003, the court had cleared the draft amendments of the four rules.

On January 10 this year, the court said these four amended rules must be published in gazette notifications by January 17.

The then caretaker government in 2001 had nearly completed the process of separating the judiciary during its tenure.

Before handing over power to the BNP-led coalition government following the October 1 election in 2001, the caretaker government took an initiative to finalise the decision to implement the separation at the last meeting of the advisory council on October 3.

But, before the meeting, the then prime minister-elect Khaleda Zia asked the then caretaker chief Latifur Rahman over telephone to give her government the opportunity to implement the judiciary separation.

Justice Latifur agreed to Khaleda's request after consulting with the then law adviser Barrister Ishtiaq Ahmed and others.

However, instead of implementing the separation of the judiciary Khaleda-led four-party coalition government rather stalled the process by repeatedly seeking extension of time from the SC.

Nine bureaucrats of Khaleda's administration now face contempt charges for distorting the 12-point SC directive.

The SC has also issued contempt rules against a number of senior bureaucrats during the BNP-led coalition government's rule for not implementing the SC order in due time.

Thanking the caretaker government, particularly Law Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein, for their earnestness and promptness, the counsel of the judiciary separation case, Barrister Amir-Ul Islam, told The Daily Star last night, "There is yet another step to be taken in regard to the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code, which can be brought by making an ordinance."

He added that the draft of the amendment has already been prepared and is ready to be legislated.

Amir said the most important step is that 'the Judicial Service Commission must have a separate secretariat and a detailed recruitment criterion and procedure'.

He said steps needs to be taken to find ways and means to strengthen the judiciary by appointing people with honesty, integrity, and allegiance to the rule of law.

Amir also stressed, the caretaker government should set up a judicial reform commission immediately in order to carry out the necessary follow up not only in the lower judiciary but also to bring about the necessary reforms in the higher judiciary.

"The higher judiciary is expected under the constitution to supervise the administration of the lower judiciary," he said adding, "This will help in bringing about a well coordinated justice delivery system."