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Thursday, January 9, 2014

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Independence of Supreme Court in the cyber world

law Cartoon

Syed Zakir Hossain

Abdullah Al Arif n

s our Supreme Court independent from the government or is it still a branch of the government? The ordinary answer would be, yes, our Supreme Court is independent and no longer a part of the government. But, at least the web address of our Supreme Court has yet to get independence from the government as the URL is www.supremecourt.gov.bd. In the cyber world, country codes such as .bd, and generic suffixes such as .com and .net, are known as toplevel domains. The second-level domain is whatever precedes this suffix: for example .edu or .gov. Hence, www. supremecourt.gov.bd simply means the Supreme Court is a sub division of the Bangladeshi government. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has decided to change its web address in the New Year, reflecting the courts constitutional position as independent of other branches of government. A UK Supreme Court news release was issued in this regard on December 16, 2013. The previous URL of the UK Supreme Court was supremecourt.gov.uk. In contrast, some of the most important UK national institutions parliament, the police, the British Library, and, rather curiously, the Ministry of Defence were allowed to dispense with a shared second-level domain. Instead, they use their own name or initials followed by the country code for example, police.uk enhancing their status while stressing their independence. In the same vein, the obvious web address for Britains Supreme Court was supremecourt. uk, one that was available but that the court was not allowed to use while the website was initiated more than eight years ago. According to the press release, from January 6 this year,

the domain addresses of the UK Supreme Court and Privy Council will be www.supremecourt.uk and www.jcpc.uk respectively. This move follows a drive for most public bodies to publish their online material under the single gov.uk portal.

The new arrangement reflects that the UK Parliament, which is not suffixed with a .gov address, is free from the governments interference and influence

The Supreme Court was concerned that such a move would risk undermining perceptions of its independence, especially when as many as half of the Supreme Courts caseload involves the government as a party. The new arrangement reflects that the UK Parliament, which is not suffixed with a .gov address, is free from the governments interference and influence. The press release added: The overall content and design of the two websites will not change. Users searching for the current top level domains ie homepages will be

automatically redirected to the new addresses from January, though web users who have bookmarked or published deep links to pages or resources on the Supreme Court and JCPC websites will need to amend these to reach the new address. Legal professionals and other court users are also being informed of a corresponding change to the email addresses of Supreme Court staff and Justices, also effective from January 6. Although we all know that the UK legal system is very sophisticated and has developed many new legal standards over the centuries, France is fairly ahead of them in this regard. The URL of the highest court of France is www.courdecassation.fr. While many other countries with rich legal traditions have not yet thought of it, the UK and France have already done it, and set a precedent for other countries to follow. The web address of the US Supreme Court still bears a .gov suffix (http://www.supremecourt.gov/), and it seems difficult for them to find a quick alternative as the US domain addresses do not have country suffixes, such as .us or .usa. India is a bit different. The web address of the Indian Supreme Court is www.supremecourt.nic.in. Here, the second level suffix .nic, which stands for national informatics centre (NIC), and the website is designed, developed and hosted by NIC Computer Cell, Supreme Court of India. However, the content on the website is published and managed by the Registry of the Supreme Court of India. To conclude, since our judiciary is independent from the government, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh should consider changing its web address in line with the example set by the UK Supreme Court and the highest court in France to ensure its independence in the cyber world. l

Cartoon by rio shuvo

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Availing notary services in Bangladesh

Fee for verifying, authentication, certifying or attesting the execution of any instrument is Tk20 Who could be a notary public? RaisuL Islam Sourav n Generally, a person who has been a practicing lawyer for a
sually, attestation by a notary public is required to authenticate various types of documents eg academic certificates, character certificates, birth/death certificates, emigration-related documents etc. It is mandatory to provide notary public endorsed copies of deeds or affidavits to transfer and register any kind of immoveable property. Sometimes, endorsement by a notary public is also required to transfer some moveable property (eg sale of a car, etc). In case the original document is in a different language, attestation by a notary public is required to authenticate any translation of the original document. Moreover, a notary public prepares deeds for foreign dealings in a prescribed format. Notary public also prepares charter party and other commercial documents, ensures safety of payment or demand of any promissory note or bill of exchange etc. term not less than seven years or had been a member of judicial service for a term not less than five years or had been serving as a government servant in the legislative drafting and law-making process of the government are eligible for appointment as a notary under the Notaries Ordinance and Notaries Rule, 1964. However, as per rule 60A of the Notaries Rule, 1964, every notary registrar must have an office and he/she cannot exhibit his signboard except in that office.

Beware of deception
Notary public authenticated documents have little worth to prove a legal claim. It basically ensures originality of a document or certifies a formal declaration. Hence, some notary publics may engage in deceitful activities. Often, the person who wants to get an affidavit does not present himself physically before the notary, which is a legal prerequisite to attest an affidavit. Some do not have any authority to notarise, but they display fake signboards and fraudulently function as a notary public. Some of them use the name and seal of a notary public whose registration has expired. They endorse fake marriage in the name of court marriage, which does not have any legal effect, rather is a mere declaration. Hence, the concerned parties must observe their respective religious rituals and registration to solemnise a valid marriage. Some notary publics may also notarise fictitious documents, helped along by some unscrupulous lawyers. Often, they prepare forged deeds and predate documents to establish their clients claim. In addition, they may create fake power of attorney with a view to transferring property. Therefore, one has to be very careful before availing any service from a notary public and make sure that the notary public has valid and up-to-date registration from the government. l The author is a senior lecturer and coordinator, Department of Law, Dhaka International University.

How to authenticate
To attest any document, the concerned notary public must compare the copy produced before him/her with the original document. However, the executor of an affidavit must be present before the notary to execute an affidavit. After scrutinising the documents, the notary public will sign the document and affix a special government seal along with his official seal on the same.

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ServiCes provided by a notary publiC

n Verify, authenticate, certify or attest the execution of any instrument n Present any promissory note, hundi or bill of exchange for acceptance of payment or demand better security n Note or protest the dishonour by non-acceptance or non-payment of any promissory note, hundi or bill of exchange or protest for better security or prepare acts of honour under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, or serve notice of such note or protest n Note and draw up ships protest, boats protest or protest relating to demurrage and other commercial matters n Administer oath to, or take affidavit from any person n Prepare bottomry and respondantia bonds, charter parties and other mercantile documents n Prepare, attest or authenticate any instrument intended to take effect in any country or place outside Bangladesh in such form and language as may conform to the law of the place where such deed is intended to operate n Translate, and verify the translation of, any document from one language into another

Fees
Most people are not aware of the actual charge of notary. Many a time a notary public charges much higher than the actual fees, taking advantage of the ignorance of the common people. However, the fees have been fixed by the government and no one can charge more than that. If any notary public receives more than the specified fees, the injured party may a lodge a complaint against the notary public. According to Rule 10 of The Notaries Rules, 1964, the fee for administering oath to or taking affidavit from any person is Tk10 and for verifying, authentication, certifying or attesting the execution of any instrument is Tk20.