Govt plans special courts for expatriates, law minister says

photo: collected

Bangladesh plans to establish special courts for expatriates to help resolve property disputes and other legal cases, Law Minister Md. Asaduzzaman said on Tuesday.

The government has taken up the plan to set up specialised courts, particularly at divisional headquarters, to address legal issues faced by expatriates, he said.

“ We have labour courts. Special labour courts have been formed for workers inside Bangladesh, and labour laws have been enacted. But when our expatriates, after sending money to Bangladesh from abroad, go to ask their family members to return the money, or when disputes arise over their property, they keep giving money to our lawyers for years, keep filing cases, and their life ends just trying to get the cases taken up [by a judge for hearing],” he said.

He was speaking at a hotel in the capital during an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU).

“We will form a special court for expatriates, especially at the divisional headquarters. A specialised court that will be able to provide any kind of asset assistance to expatriates and handle any kind of expatriate-related case. We have taken up this plan, and we hope to start it very soon,” he said.