Civil Courts & Its Classification

Definition of Civil Courts

In general sense, the court which adjudicates the suits of civil nature is called as a
Civil Court. Civil courts decide disputed rights between a subject and the state or
between one individual and the other.

According to Cambridge Dictionary,

Civil court is a court of law that deals with disagreements between individual
people or private companies, rather than with criminal activity.

Classification of Civil Courts

According to section 3 of the Civil Courts Act, 1887 there shall be the following
classes of Civil Courts-

 The Court of the District Judge

 The Court of the Additional District Judge
 The Court of the Joint District Judge
 The Court of the Senior Assistant Judge

The Court of District Judge

According to Section 2(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 –the principal civil
court of a district is called as a Court of District Judge. This is the apex court of the
lower civil judiciary.

A district Judge exercises administrative control over all civil courts within the
local limit of his jurisdiction. The local limit is determined by the Government. His
administrative control is supervised by the High Court Division. A district Judge
usually does not try original suit. Under special act, he is the only court competent
to try certain kinds of cases such as, Insolvency cases, Probate and Administration
cases etc. He can however, delegate his function. His pecuniary jurisdiction is
unlimited in case of original suits.

Under the appellate jurisdiction he decides appeals from the decrees or orders of
Joint District Judges, where the value of original suit in which or in any proceeding
arising out of which the decree or order was made did not exceed Five Lac Taka.
But he can try all the appeals from decrees or orders passed by a Senior Assistant
Judge or Assistant Judge Court. No second appeal lies from the decision of a
District Judge Court given in an appeal but is revisable by the High Court Division.

Case Reference
District Judge has no revisional jurisdiction over a matter in respect of which he
has not appellate jurisdiction.(Nurul Islam and others vs Md. Abdur Rashid, 1
BLD(HCD) 25)

The Court of Additional District Judge

The judicial function of an Additional District Judge is similar to that of a District

Judge. Actually he doesn’t take a case directly. He tries those cases which are
transferred to his court from the court of the District Judge . He tries to lessen the
burden of the District Judge. Any appeal against the District Judge shall lies on the
High Court Division.

The Court of Joint District Judge

There may be one or more Joint District Judges in a district. The limit of his local
jurisdiction is determined by the District Judge. The Government by the
notification in the official gazzette fix the place of sitting of Joint District Judges.

Ordinarily a Joint District Judge exercises two types of powers, namely-Original

and Appellate. His pecuniary jurisdiction in original suit is unlimited. Normally, he
tries those original suits the valuation of which exceeds Four lac taka.

A District Judge may transfer to a Joint District Judge under his administrative
control any pending appeal from the decree or order of a Senior Assistant Judge or
 Assistant Judge. The appeals so transferred are disposed of by the Joint
District Judge in exercise of his appellate power as a delegate of the District Judge.

In some cases joint district judges have been invested with power to act as Small
Causes Court upto such value not exceeding twenty thousand taka.

An appeal from a decree or order of a Joint District Judge lies to the District Judge
where the value of the original suit in which or any proceeding arising out of which
the decree or order was made did not exceed Five Lac Taka and to the High Court
Division in any other cases.

The Court of Senior Assistant Judge

The Senior Assistant Judge Court is a court of first instance and it exercises
original jurisdiction. Normally it’s pecuniary jurisdiction extends to the suits the
value of which does not exceed taka Four Lac.

Senior Assistant Judge also exercises the power of Small Cause Court in some
cases where the value of the suit does not exceed Ten thousand taka.

Normally an appeal from a decree or order of a Senior Assistant Judge would lie
to the District Judge. But from his judgment appeal would also lie to the Additional
District or Joint District Judges if it is assigned to them.

The Court of Assistant Judge

The Court of Assistant Judge stands at the base of hierarchy of Civil Courts in
Bangladesh. It exercises both original and revisional jurisdiction. Normally it’s
pecuniary jurisdiction extends to the suits the value of which does not exceed Taka
Two Lac. An appeal from a decree or order passed by an Assistant Judge lies to the
court of District Judge. An appeal can also be preferred from a decree or order of
an Assistant Judge to the Court of Additional or Joint District Judge if receiving
and disposing of appeal assigned to them.

In some places, Assistant Judges are invested with the powers to act as a Small
Causes Court where the pecuniary value of the suit does not exceed Six Thousand
Taka. Assistant Judge Court has also been invested with the revisional powers in
petty civil matters coming from Village Courts and Concilliation Boards.