Lawyers back Sri Lanka suspension

BY FRANNY RABKIN, 24 APRIL 2013,

THE Law Society of South Africa on Tuesday came out in support of a resolution by Commonwealth lawyers calling for the suspension of Sri Lanka, which is due to host the 54-nation body’s next summit meeting, in November.

The resolution said the Sri Lankan government had violated the rule of law when it unlawfully impeached its former chief justice, Shirani Bandaranayake.

Sri Lanka will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from November 15-17 in Colombo. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will become chairman of the organisation.

The president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Mark Stephens, said being a member of the Commonwealth was a "badge of respectability". To award Mr Rajapaksa the status of chair was "effectively to reward a state’s miscreant behaviour."

The resolution was taken unanimously last week in Cape Town by about 900 lawyers, judges and law teachers from across the 54 countries that make up the Commonwealth.

It called on Commonwealth members to suspend Sri Lanka from the councils of the Commonwealth and to reconsider holding of the next heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka. This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and "call into grave question the value, credibility and future of the Commonwealth", the resolution said.

It would also "be seen as condoning the action of governments who violate its principles, and by its silence will undermine the moral authority it purports to have in protecting" rights.

The impeachment of Judge Bandaranayake, the country’s first woman chief justice, was found by Sri Lanka’s court of appeal to be unlawful — a decision ignored by its government.

It is also reportedly widely believed that the impeachment was politically motivated after Sri Lanka’s highest court, its supreme court, would not approve several government bills.

Her impeachment was followed by a series of transfers of judges and magistrates who were reportedly her supporters.

The resolution also referred to "gross and repeated harassment" of Sri Lankan lawyers who had defended the rule of law and judicial independence.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka condemned the "violation of the rules of natural justice" in the way in which the impeachment was handled.

The Law Society of SA’s co-chairpersons, Kathleen Matolo-Dlepu and David Bekker, urged the South African government "not to remain silent in the face of these violations".

The Commonwealth secretariat’s spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

PRESS RELEASE-LAW SOCIETY SUPPORTS COMMONWEALTH LAWYERS’ CALL FOR  SUSPENSION OF SRI LANKA FROM THE COMMONWEALTH

23 April 2013: For immediate release

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) supports the call made last week by the 

Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the 

Councils of the Commonwealth due to its breaches of the rule of law and of the 

independence of the judiciary, as well as the gross harassment of members of the legal 

profession.

The LSSA supports the CLA resolution passed unanimously by some 900 judges and 

lawyers from across the Commonwealth who attended the 18th Commonwealth Law 

Conference held in Cape Town last week. The resolution 

 calls on the Members of the Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth 

Ministerial Action Group, to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of its next meeting on 

26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious 

and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values. This 

suspension would not preclude the people of Sri Lanka from participating in nongovernmental Commonwealth activities; and

 exhorts members of the Commonwealth to reconsider the holding of the next 

Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka as to do so would

o tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth, especially given that the Sri 

Lankan Head of State will thereby assume the role of Chair-in-Office; and

o call into grave question the value, credibility and future of the Commonwealth.

‘The LSSA echoes the concern of lawyers from across the Commonwealth at the 

continued erosion of the independence of the judiciary through the impeachment of the 

Chief Justice Bandaranayake at the end of last year, and the subsequent relocation of 

magistrates and judges in Sri Lanka; the failure of the Sri Lankan Executive to abide by 

court orders; and the gross and persistent harassment of members of the legal 

profession and others who are seeking to defend these values in Sri Lanka,’ say LSSA 

Co-Chairpersons Kathleen Matolo-Dlepu and David Bekker.

The LSSA expressed its grave concern in January this year at the politically motivated 

impeachment of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Shirani Bandaranayake, and other rule of 

law violations, and urged the South African Government not to remain silent in the face 

these violations, while at the same time increasing its bilateral and trade relations with 

Sri Lanka.

Click here to read the ‘Resolution on the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence in Sri 

Lanka’ adopted by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Legal 

Education Association and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association in 

Cape Town on 17 April 2013.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SOUTH 

AFRICA, KATHLEEN MATOLO-DLEPU AND DAVID BEKKER

by Barbara Whittle

Communication Manager, Law Society of South Africa

Tel: (012) 366 8800 or 083 380 1307 

E-mail: barbara@lssa.org.za Website: www.lssa.org.za

Editor’s note:

The Law Society of South Africa brings together its six constituent members – the Cape Law 

Society, the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society, the Law Society of the Free State, the Law Society of 

the Northern Provinces, the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of 

Democratic Lawyers – in representing South Africa’s 21 400 attorneys and 5 800 candidate 

attorneys.

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association is an international organisation which exists to 

promote and maintain the rule of law throughout the Commonwealth by ensuring that an 

independent and efficient legal profession, with the highest standards of ethics and integrity, 

serves the people of the Commonwealth. The LSSA is a member of the CLA.