DHAKA: Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haque on Sunday said amendment to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 will be placed before the next session of Jatiya Sangsad in the beginning of January next year provisioning to try war crimes-accused political parties.

disclosed it while talking to journalists after inaugurating a workshop of training of trainers (TOT) on arbitration in Bangladesh at a city hotel on Sunday morning.

Anisul said that the next session will begin with the president’s address; the proposed amendment to the act will be placed then.

Trial of political parties, which are accused in crimes against humanity, including Jamaat-e-Islami and its all wings, will be tried under the amended law, if it is passed, he added.

Anisul said other organizations those had collaboration with the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War will also be tried under the law.

Asked on the judge impeachment bill---the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Bill 2014 -- the minister said that the bill will be passed after discussion with Bangladesh Bar Council and people concerned of the Supreme Court.

Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) in association with Washington-based International Law Institute organized the function.

The minister, in his speech as chief guest, said arbitration is being used in almost all countries of the world for the settlement of disputes outside the court system.

Speakers, at the training program, said arbitration is playing a leading role to reduce number of pending cases. First end of this year, more than 4 million are pending for the settlement in the courts of Bangladesh.

BIAC council chairman Mahbubur Rahman, Chief Executive Dr Toufiq Ali, and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Rokia Afzal Rahman, among others, were present at the function.

BDST: 1554 HRS, DEC 07, 2014