방글라데시의 분쟁해결문화와 제도

Dispute Resolution Culture and Institution in Bangladesh: Shalish Tradition and Modern Extensions

Shalish is a key ingredient of the dispute resolution culture in Bangladesh since a formal court system has been known to show inefficiencies, such as overburdened cases and litigation process delays. This paper investigates the main function of Shalish and examines the evolution of Shalish in the perspectives of its three variants: a community-based Shalish, a village court, and an NGO variant of Shalish in modern extensions. It was found that traditional Shalish may play a role in the dispute resolution system in modern villages. A village court is a kind of hybrid dispute resolution system combining an informal dispute resolution with a formal court system. A village court is administered by the Union Parishad without intervention from the central government. Both the Shalish and village court have the weakness of unfair verdict exercised by local elders within a community. For this reason, an NGO variant Shalish is to reflect voices of women and other lower people in the community. To this study’s interpretation, a village court is a new kind of Shalish combined with a formal court system while an NGO variant Shalish is also a new Shalish combined with a mediation system. In this respect, core elements of Shalish tradition have not been changed although various forms of new dispute resolution systems have emerged in the modern world.