DHAKA : A precedent has been set in the High Court (HC) for giving priority to the hearing of death references and appeals in cases 
filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

Following several recent brutal incidents of violence against women and children in the country, a special High Court bench has been constituted to 
exclusively hear death references and appeals in cases under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on a priority basis.

Under the directive of Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, the special bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman 
Raja was formed on June 10. Death references and appeal matters of total 20 cases have been placed before the bench for priority hearing. The bench has 
already disposed of one case after hearing.

The death references and appeals in 20 cases, including the murder case of madrasa student Nusrat in Sonagazi of Feni and the rape and murder case of 
eight-year old Asiya in Magura have been included in the cause list of the special HC bench.

Meanwhile, when the death reference in the case lodged over the rape and murder of eight-year old Ramisa in Pallabi of the capital appeared before the 
special bench on June 16, the court ordered the appointment of a state defence counsel for the condemned convicts Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna 
Akter. The state counsel informed the court that the paper book in the case had already been prepared.

A special team of state counsels has been formed to conduct hearings on death references and appeals involving death sentences under the Women and Children 
Repression Prevention Act.

Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal told BSS that the team of state lawyers under his leadership would conduct hearings of such death 
references and appeals without seeking any adjournment.

Death reference: Under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, when a trial court sentences a convict to death, the sentence requires confirmation 
by the High Court before it can be executed. For this purpose, the trial court's judgment along with all relevant case documents is sent to the High 
Court. These records are known as a death reference.

Paper book: The paper book is prepared by compiling and binding the records of the death reference together with the appeal or jail appeal filed by the 
convicted person or persons. The High Court hears and disposes of the death reference and appeals based on this paper book.

Appeal and jail appeal: A convict sentenced to death has the right to file a regular appeal and a jail appeal against the sentence. Besides filing a 
regular appeal through a lawyer, a condemned convict may also submit a jail appeal through the prison authorities.