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AG stresses judiciary should be free from other branches of Govt. and private and partisan interests
Declaring that courts must necessarily occupy a high position of power, privilege and independence in the life of a nation, Attorney General Dappula De Livera, PC, yesterday (20) emphasised that judges in the exercise of judicial functions should be immune from external control and influence and intimidation.
The AG said so at the ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court to welcome Justice Dileep Nawaz, Ladyship Justice Kumudini Wickramasinghe and Justice Shiran Gooneratne.
The following is the text of the AG’s speech: I am constrained by time but I shall not waste a minute. My Lords and My Lady you commenced your legal careers and were moulded in the Attorney General’s Department and after long and faithful service to the Institution of the Attorney General finally adorned the Bench and embarked on a career in the Judiciary which has now already spanned several years.
There is no doubt that Your Ladyship and Lordships are well equipped and experienced to undertake the responsibilities and discharge the functions of this onerous and exalted office. I have also no doubt that today, must be a very satisfying and memorable day for your Lordships and Ladyship. A sense of achievement and accomplishment no doubt.
It would also be a time and a day to look back and reflect on the past and take stock of that long journey and reaffirm your commitment to overcome challengers and uphold the Rule of law meting out good quality justice to the yearning men, women and children of this country.
In Sri Lanka the courts have quite justly come to be regarded as the sentinel over the powers of the legislature and the executive in order to safeguard the rights of the citizen under the law and the constitution.
The credibility of a judicial system in a country is dependent on the Judges who man it. Judges must be persons of impeccable integrity and unimpeachable independence. A Judge must discharge his judicial functions with high integrity, impartially and intellectual honesty. Speaking of intellectual honesty; the law would be like a ball of clay in the hands of an erudite Judge. Therefore, Judges should be ruthlessly honest, independent, and impartial and possess a judicial conscience to ensure that the ball of clay is molded according to law.
For over 2000 years of the island’s long history, the Courts of Law have occupied a unique place in the system of government. Public acceptance of the judiciary and public confidence in the judiciary is necessary for the rule of law to prevail in the country. Public confidence in the judiciary is dependent on the independence and integrity of the judiciary.
The sovereignty is in the people and is alienable and that sovereignty of the people is exercised by the judiciary in the public trust. The independence and the integrity of the judiciary ought to be preserved for justice and the rule of law to prevail in a society. A judiciary should not only be independent but appear to be independent in order to gain the confident of the people.
An independent judiciary is the corner stone the prevalence of the Rule of Law in a democratic society.
The essence of rule of law has been said to be that the Administration is bound by the law and that in it cannot interfere with the rights of the individual except in accordance with the law.
The International Congress of Jurists meeting in New Delhi in January 1959 concluded “that an independent judiciary is an indispensable requisite for a free society and for the Rule of Law to prevail in a society.
The independence and impartially of the judiciary is essential for a democratic system of government to function under the Rule of Law.
The maintenance of the independence of Judges and of the quality of the administration of justice would largely depend on the Judges themselves and the state of public opinion of the country, which demands their independence and impartially.
Within the limits of their power and jurisdiction the courts are required to perform a dynamic role as the fearless upholders of the principle of equal justice under the Rule of Law.
“Not all the guns of the Garrison leveled at their lordships would intimidate the Court” said Chief Justice Carrington in 1804 to General Wemyss who was brought up on a charge of contempt of court and had appeared with his staff wearing sidearms and bayonets.
In 1937 Chief Justice Abhrams questioned the deportation order of Mark Anthony Bracegirdle and said “the crown takes its stand upon what it submits are the unquestionable absolute powers of the governor and it is our duty to say that those powers are limited”. The governor’s order was made without Authority. The arrest and detention was illegal and Mr. Bracegirdle must be released”.
The Courts must necessarily occupy a high position of power, privilege and independence in the life of a nation.
The Judges in the exercise of judicial functions should be immune from outside control and influence and intimidation.
That independence is also necessary from the other branches of government and from private and partisan interest.
Judges should be above suspicion and should not leave even a glimpse for that suspicion to occur.
When Pompeia the wife of Julius Caesar secretly sneaked a man dressed as a woman into a Roman religious ceremony, her husband divorced her.
It was a girly prank. But the discovery of the man celebrating the mysteries of Bona Dea in the male free temple scandalised Ancient Romans and led to rumours that Pompeia is having an affair. Pompeia hadn’t committed adultery but it didn’t wash with Ceasar who kicked her to touch and insisted that his wife must be above suspicion.
Judges like Ceasar’s wife must also be above suspicion and the fundamental principle is that there should not be even a hint of bias or prejudice in the judicial process as is as vital today as it was 118 years ago when Lord Bowen famously compared judges to Ceasar’s wife.
The people will be judging you when you are judging them therefore that accountability and transparency ought to be seen and perceived from the judgments, pronouncements and orders that are delivered by the Courts.
Judge Ralph Mac Allister on the occasion of taking oaths as a Judge, State of Ohio, in December 1976, prayed for the Court as follows; He prayed that the Court always function with honour and integrity. That its pronouncements always be just. That its proceedings be conducted impartially. And finally that all its actions preserved the Peace and Dignity, the Rights and Prerogatives and the freedom and morality of all the people. That is my prayer too for this country.
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PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
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By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
