‘CC always been impartial, transparent’

Disna Mudalige and Amali Mallawaarachchi-Saturday, January 26, 2019

The Constitutional Council (CC) considers not only the seniority but also the recommendation of the Chief Justice and the recognition to them in the field when appointing Superior Court judges, CC Chairman and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said.

The Speaker, making a special announcement in Parliament yesterday on the request of the CC, said the CC has always been impartial, transparent, fair and independent in all its decisions.

He added that all the CC members are allowed to freely express their opinions on the appointments to independent commissions and high posts, and that a final decision is arrived impartially after evaluating all of the opinions.

“Certain criticisms of the MPs may lead to public misunderstanding on the conduct of the CC. When approving names for the independent commissions we use the same criteria stipulated in the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. However, we requested proposals from the MPs if any revision to those criteria is needed in 2016, but to-date we have not received a single proposal. I tabled a report in December, 2016 including the criteria being followed by the CC,” he noted.

“Some MPs resorted to criticize the judges’ private affairs which are not related to their duty and it was very harmful. The High Court Judges’ Association commended the method we follow in appointing superior court judges. Those appointments are done with the agreement of all members in the CC,” the Speaker explained.

He pointed out that most of the appointments made by the CC so far including the Attorney General and the IGP appointments were unanimous decisions of the CC. He added that the preliminary selections for all the appointments are done by the three civil society members.

“There had been instances where we rejected the President’s nomination, but when we explained the reasons, the President accepted our stance. We never made any appointment based on the political allegiance or the appearance of candidates. I wrote to the President also stating that we can discuss and settle any issue. The CC is an independent body and I have to safe guard that independence. I have to respect the opinions of the CC members,” the Speaker explained.

The Speaker also noted that it was former Opposition Leader R Sampanthan who appointed former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to the CC, adding that many were surprised and thanked Sampanthan for his stance.

UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena said the Opposition Leader’s views must be sought when deciding the composition of CC. “Of late, the CC has been repeatedly rejecting the President’s nomination for important posts. The current controversy is due to this rejection. We have repeatedly questioned as to what criteria the CC follows in making those appointments.

Disregarding the seniority, the CC makes appointments by a secret vote. The political allegiance matters in those appointments by the CC. It is not proper for the CC to reject the President’s nomination. The President respected the Supreme Court decision and acted according to it to avoid a crisis. Does not the CC try to make a new constitutional crisis? The composition of the CC must change,” MP Gunawardena complained.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while refuting that the CC acts partially in favour of one political party, added that no party has a majority in the CC.

“The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader can appoint 5 members to the CC. Then we have to speak to all the political parties. When R.Sampanthan was the Opposition Leader, we gave the opportunity to former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa who represents the UPFA. But now he has resigned and we thank him for that. That vacancy must be filled after holding discussions with all other parties,” the Premier said.

The Prime Minister commenting on considering the seniority of the judges said, “Had you considered the seniority, late Justice Mark Fernando should have been the CJ, but Justice Sarath N.Silva was appointed instead. We all saw what former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake went through. The CC was introduced from the 17th Amendment, but this

became defunct with the 18th Amendment presented by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the PM explained.

The Prime Minister added that the CC decided that the Speaker as the Head of the CC must discuss with the President on the prevailing problems with regard to the appointments by the CC. “Your anger is due to the Supreme Court ruling in December last year. The people have no such problem. Who behaved in an anti-democratic way? Who made unnecessary comments on the religious faith of the judges? We saw how the MPs misbehaved in the Chamber during the period of political crisis. The Speaker must give us a report on that incident.

The CC helped to uphold the dignity of the House. There are independent commissions and independent judiciary in this

country. The courts have given rulings unfavourable to the Government also. At such instances, the Opposition commended the judiciary. There had been no issue when appointing the Attorney General or the IGP. We saw how problematic were the appointments made in the past after the 18th Amendment” the PM said.

He also questioned as to why former Minister Prof G L Peiris expressed his intent to go before the Supreme Court on holding the Provincial Council Elections, if they have no confidence in the judiciary.UPFA MP Wimal Weerawansa said that the CC members who were appointed with the agreement between the PM and then Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan must resign as former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa did. He said new members must be appointed with the agreement between new Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.