A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, June 14, 2017
UN Rapporteur’s report hammers SL judiciary
The
report by former UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges
and lawyers, Mónica Pinto based on her mission to Sri Lanka last year,
was tabled to the UN Human Rights Council yesterday and the report
highly criticized Sri Lanka’s justice system.
The report, which was compiled by Ms. Pinto following her mission to Sri
Lanka from April 29 to May 7 last year, was tabled by new Rapporteur
Diego García-Sayán at the ongoing 35th session of the UNHRC.
Tabling the report Mr. García-Sayán said although the armed conflict was
concluded in 2009, very deep wounds could still be seen in the judicial
system.
He said there have been reforms and some steps forward but gradual
worsening of the situation in the judiciary during the armed conflict
was visible.
Quoting the report, he said there was a lack of equal representation of
minority groups in the prosecution services and police force. “Problems
related to language are very serious and have a very serious effect on
justice and on the likelihood of obtaining a fair process if you belong
to the Tamil community,” he said.
He said authorities were urged to put in place transitional justice
mechanism to tackle the past comprehensively and stress was made that
there ought to be impartial, credible and effective authorities working
in this transition process.
Ms. Pinto in her report said the language problems have a dramatic
impact on access to justice and respect for fair trial and due process
guarantees for Tamil-speaking people, and need to be addressed urgently.
Commenting on the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, she said it has been
during certain periods strongly divided along political lines.
She said she was told of judicial delays that were nothing short of
dramatic and criminal proceedings could drag on for 10 to 15 years, even
in cases that were not politically sensitive.
“For instance, a lawyer mentioned being involved in a trial for rape
that had recently been completed after 15 years. There were also
examples of civil cases that had been pending for more than 30 years.
Divorce matters could take eight or more years to be resolved. Such
delays clearly amount to a denial of justice, which especially affects
the lives of victims, their families and persons deprived of their
liberty,” she said adding the Attorney-General’s department also largely
contributed to judicial delays.
The report said the Special Rapporteur was told that judges frequently pushed defendants to plead guilty.
“Defendants were made to believe they could get a lighter sentence by
pleading guilty, which was not always the case, and that their sentence
would be shorter than the time they would spend in pretrial detention.
When defendants plead guilty, judges can expedite their case and improve
their statistics. The Special Rapporteur is alarmed by this practice,
which seems to demonstrate a disregard for the interests of justice,” it
said.
It said the victim and witness protection would continue to be a
determining issue in the context of common crimes, abuses and violations
committed by members of the security forces, as well as in the context
of transitional justice mechanisms that have been created, such as the
Office of Missing Persons, or that will be established, such as a
truth-seeking mechanism or specialized court.
Referring to impunity, the report said it was widespread and that it has
become a normal occurrence, thereby contributing to shattering the
public’s confidence in its judiciary.
“Since the change of government, some positive steps seem to have been
taken, as five new cases were reportedly being investigated at the time
of the visit,” it said.
In conclusion, the 20-page long report said while the democratic gains
of the past two years must be welcomed, it is important to recognize
that much more could and should have been done to manifest a commitment
to genuine reform, in particular in the justice sector, and to create a
meaningful and participatory transitional justice mechanisms.
“Building a justice system that all sectors of society will trust and be
able to rely on to defend and enforce their rights will take time. Bold
steps need to be taken, as a sign of the authorities’ commitment to
address the atrocities of the past and, above all, the structures that
allowed such atrocities to happen. It is important to remember that
justice must not merely be done, but must also be seen to be done,” the
report said.
Making at least 49 recommendations, Ms. Pinto said the practice of plea
bargaining should be clearly regulated in legislation, defendants should
never be pressured into pleading guilty and should be informed in a
language they understand of all the consequences and implications of
pleading guilty.
While urging the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the report
said the authorities should study the backlog of tribunals and analyse
the causes of judicial delays to design a comprehensive plan to improve
the efficiency of the administration of justice, legislation should be
urgently amended to allow every person arrested or detained to have
access to a lawyer of his or her choice from the moment of arrest, an
independent special office should be established to handle the
prosecution of State officials and urgent measures should be taken to
allow people from different sectors of society to be part of the justice
system and to have access to it.
“A code of conduct for judges, in line with international standards such
as the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, should be set up. The
Attorney-General’s appointment should be clearly set out in law and
include objective selection criteria, any impeachment procedure should
be regulated by a law passed by Parliament, the composition of the
Constitutional Council should balance the number of politicians with
representation from civil society, the Constitutional Council should set
out and publish its rules of procedures, including the criteria used to
evaluate candidates’ suitability for a given position, which should be
scrupulously and consistently applied,” were among the recommendations.
Courtesy : http://www.dailymirror.lk/
Courtesy : http://www.dailymirror.lk/