Moheuddin Sarkar Ovi: A court hearing can fit on a phone screen. A safe place to speak cannot always fit inside a home. That is the question Bangladesh must face as family courts make greater use of digital procedures. Bringing a hearing closer to a person is valuable. We must also make sure the person can take part freely.
The Supreme Court’s official notice list records an October 28 amendment to practice directions on digital filing, document submission and hearings in family courts. The notice does not establish that every court already offers the same service. It does give us a reason to ask what people will need wherever these facilities are introduced.
I support digital access to family courts. It can reduce difficult journeys and help people who must arrange childcare, miss work or travel a long distance to attend. But the service should come with practical help and a workable alternative for anyone unable to use it safely. Access to a phone should not become a new condition for access to justice.
Consider a hypothetical woman seeking maintenance who borrows a relative’s smartphone for a hearing. She can open the link, but other people may hear her answers. The relative may need the phone back. Documents and messages may remain on a device she does not control. She has reached the court online, yet may still be unable to explain her case properly.
This is the gap that court design must address. In a family dispute, questions about income, relationships or a child’s care can be intensely private. A judge needs to know whether the person answering can speak without pressure. A camera shows a face and part of a room. It may not show someone standing nearby or prompting an answer.
My first proposal is simple: provide places where people can join an online hearing with help and privacy. Suitable rooms at court premises or legal aid facilities could offer a stable connection and trained assistance. A member of staff could help upload a document or join a call without answering questions for the litigant. These facilities would make digital access useful to people who do not own the right equipment.
There must also be a clear way to request a different hearing arrangement. A person should not have to negotiate an exception through personal contacts because their phone is unsuitable or their home is unsafe. Courts should assess those needs individually. Where intimidation or domestic abuse is raised, asking someone on a shared call whether they feel safe may not be enough.
Privacy starts before the hearing. A notification about a family case can appear on a shared phone’s lock screen. Someone else may see it first. Within the rules for giving lawful notice, users should be able to identify a safe contact method and understand what messages will reveal. This may look like a small technical choice. For the person receiving the message, it can be a significant personal concern.
Connection problems need a fair response. When a call drops, the court should have a reasonable way to check what happened before treating someone as unwilling to attend. A reconnection opportunity or another suitable arrangement may be needed. Deliberate disruption should not be allowed to delay proceedings indefinitely. Recording the interruption and the steps taken would help distinguish a genuine failure from misuse.
Filing documents should be easy to understand too. A person who presses “submit” needs to know whether the document arrived and whether something must be corrected. An unreadable photograph should trigger clear guidance, not silent confusion. Plain language, receipts and assistance with technical errors would make the system more dependable. Being unfamiliar with an upload button says nothing about the strength of someone’s claim.
Fairness applies to both sides. Each party must receive proper notice and have a reasonable opportunity to see and challenge the material relied upon. Digital convenience cannot replace those safeguards. Access to case papers should be controlled so that parties can use them without exposing private family information to the wider public.
Children’s privacy needs special care. A hearing recorded on someone’s phone can be copied and shared long after the case ends. Clear rules against unauthorised recording, secure storage and careful control of access should be part of the service. Staff need to understand these risks, and judges need the freedom to choose arrangements suited to the child’s circumstances.
We should judge success by what happens to families. Did a litigant avoid an unnecessary journey? Could both sides understand and follow the hearing? Were private details protected? People who failed to use the system should be asked about their experience as well. Counting uploads alone will miss those left outside.
An online family court can make a difficult period of life a little less costly and exhausting. That is a worthwhile ambition. It will require money for assistance and safe spaces as well as software. The screen should bring the judge closer without leaving the person more exposed. A successful hearing begins when someone can speak—and knows they can do so safely.
Apprentice Lawyer, Dhaka District and Sessions Judge Court
