Sri Lanka: Supreme Court overrules Appeals Court writ against CJ impeachment

Dharisha Bastians

 ◾5-Judge bench overturns Appeals Court writ against PSC findings in Shirani B impeachment

◾SC says Court of Appeal has no writ jurisdiction over Parliament

◾Overturns former Supreme Court ruling that PSC had no basis in law

◾Ruling does not validate impeachment: Weliamuna

The Government got one step closer to legalising the sacking of Chief Justice 43 Shirani Bandaranayake when the Supreme Court yesterday overturned a Court of Appeal writ that quashed the findings of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that probed impeachment charges brought against her.

Sri Lanka’s rights violations bring Commonwealth to turning point

Frances Harrison

Sri Lankan Tamil families hold up photographs of their missing sons during a protest against the Sri Lankan government in Colombo.—Reuters/File Photo

LONDON: When they decided to have a meeting at their party office in the north of the island, the four Sri Lankan MPs probably didn’t expect that it would start raining concrete boulders.
Before they knew it, a mob of about 60 people had surrounded the building. After half an hour of sustained assault, the roof broke and the elected representatives found themselves sheltering in the archways of the doors, as if it were an earthquake. All the while the police looked on, doing nothing.

Commonwealth lawyers call for suspention of Sri Lanka form the Commonwealth

Lawyers of the Commonwealth today passed a resolution on Sri Lanka at a special plenary session during the Commonwealth Law Conference in South Africa.
The resolution was submitted by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA).

Ex-CJ’s passport IMPOUNDED

As reported by the Government mouth peice Celylon Daily News:
* To foil flight to escape bribery probe
* Used time buying tactics when called for submissions
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption impounded the passport of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake to prevent her from escaping to a foreign country until the probe into the allegations of bribery and corruption against her is concluded.

Law Society of England and Wale supports CLA call for suspension of Sri Lanka from Commonwealth

The Law Society of England and Wales today added its voice to those calling for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Councils of the Commonwealth, following reports of serious breaches of the rule of law and judicial independence.

Asian jurists seriously alarmed by the rapid collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka and the loss of the core values of the separation of powers

ASIA: A statement by Asian jurists on the impeachment of the Chief Justice and the collapse of rule of law in Sri Lanka

A statement by Asian Jurists on the Impeachment of the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, and about the threatened rule of law in Sri Lanka. The statement is issued by the jurists who attended a consultation organised by the Lawyers' Collective of Sri Lanka and the Asian Human Rights Commission, on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in Asia,

The JSC headed by Mohan Peiris transferred nearly 100 district judges and magistrates despite pleas..

BASL launches brave struggle against attack on Judiciary - Editorial   Daily Mirror
Though the politicisation of the Supreme Court and Judiciary began in 1996 with the appointment of Sarath N. Silva as the Chief Justice, a full-scale attack on the Independentce of the Judiciary and the consequent breakdown of the rule of law apparantly began in December last year  with the motion to impeach CJ 43, Shirani Bandaranayake.

BASL disturbed by unusual transfers of judicial officers ( who opposed the Impeachment)

CJ Mohan Peiris at work

The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has appointed a subcommittee to look into the recent transfers of several district court judges and magistrates who have not even completed their tenure of three years in their courts.The transfers were made by the Judicial Services Commission chaired by Chief Justice 44 Mohan Pieris.

Sri Lanka: Where are the core values? Four violations within a week!

Basil Fernando

The International Bar Association in the executive summary of their report entitled, 'A Crisis of Legitimacy' issued in March 2013 makes the following recommendation to the Commonwealth:

The Commonwealth should assess the seriousness with which the Sri Lankan authorities take these Recommendations, monitor the urgency with which they are acted upon, and consider with great care:

Attack on the Temple of Justice and on religious freedoms:The combination of the two at present is both a time-bomb waiting to go off and a cancer spreading to other areas at the same time.

The BASL convocation ( photo - Sunday Times)

Shirani Bandaranayake attended the Annual Convocation of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka in Colombo on March 30, 2013. She was invited as the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. Mohan Pieris, the 44th Chief Justice, was not invited. Attorney General Palitha Fernando came to the venue but left before proceedings began.

BASL convocation : De jure Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka presides , while Mohan Peiris, the De Facto Chief Justice, was not invited.

Shirani Bandaranayake attended the Annual Convocation of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka in Colombo on March 30, 2013. She was invited as the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka

Update from Lawyers Collective on Historic Convocation of BASL
Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) held a historic convocation and inducted its newly elected President Upul Jayasuriya, today at Nava Rangahala. De jure Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka was among the special guests, who graced the occasion, while Mohan Peiris, the De Facto Chief Justice, was not invited.

Sri Lanka facing constitutional crisis concludes IBAHRI report

The removal from office in Sri Lanka of Chief Justice Bandaranayake was unlawful, is undermining public confidence in the rule of law, and threatening to eviscerate the country’s judiciary as an independent guarantor of constitutional rights states the Executive Summary of an International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) report released today.

Issued ahead of the full report, the Executive Summary of A Crisis of Legitimacy: The Impeachment of Chief Justice Bandaranayake and the Erosion of the Rule of Law in Sri Lanka finds the legal profession in Sri Lanka to be in a perilous state.

Justice crushed in Sri Lanka - Commonwealth countries risk a human rights nightmare if they capitulate to the Rajapaksa regime.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson.

Geoffrey Robertson
The Commonwealth is sleepwalking towards a human rights disaster, if it goes ahead with November's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, where it will be presided over by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Perhaps emboldened by getting away with murder - the army slaughter of some 40,000 Tamil civilians in 2009 - his government has now moved to destroy the independence of the judiciary. It has sacked the Chief Justice for a decision that it finds inconvenient.

Magnitsky Act: All 117 MP’s who Signed Impeachment Motion and the 7 Cabinet Ministers who Convicted Chief Justice Must be Denied Entry into Britain and Bank Accounts Frozen

It is called a Magnitsky Act, named after Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian whistleblower jailed when he tried to expose corruption and who was killed in prison

By Geoffrey Robertson QC
Prominent Australian Lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC in a report published by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) concludes that Shirani Bandaranayake the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka was innocent of the misconduct charges which brought about her removal from office last month.
The report calls for the UK to subject the seven Sri Lankan cabinet ministers who convicted her, and 117 government MPs who signed a “false and fabricated” impeachment motion, to be refused entry visas and to have their bank accounts in Britain frozen.

Upul Jayasuriya at the helm of Bar Association: Clear endoesement of BASL stand on Impeachment

Upul Jayasuriya, Attorney-at-Law and senior human rights lawyer, was elected as the new President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka,
in what lawyers called a ‘historic’ margin of victory.

 ■Jayasuriya defeats main opponent Tirantha Waraliyadda PC by more than 1,700 votes
Jayasuriya beat his main contender Tirantha Waraliyadda PC, the senior criminal lawyer, by a margin of over 1,700 votes, BASL sources said. Former BASL President Wijeyadasa Rajapakse won the election in 2012 with 1297 votes in total, while Waraliyadda who also contested the last election received 676.

Sri Lanka: 2013 and Beyond by Alistair Burt :UK to support proposed resolution .

Visiting Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burt said yesterday that his country would support the planned procedural resolution by the United States on Sri Lanka at next month’s session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Addressing a seminar, Mr. Burt,  referred to a wide range of issues. While acknowledging progress made by Sri Lanka in the post war period, he was critical of some matters including the impeachment of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

Silent Acceptance of New Chief Justice by the Legal Community Shows the Govt has Succeeded for the Time Being

Sumanasiri Liyanage
There is an unusual and unexpected calmness in Hulftsdorp in the post-impeachment days in spite of the fact that all traditions and conventions were put aside in the appointment of the new Chief Justice in place of Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. At the time of appointment as the CJ, Mr Mohan Pieris was a director of many private companies and the legal advisor to the Cabinet. Previously, of course with rare exceptions, it was either a most senior Supreme Court Judge or the Attorney General who was appointed by the President as the CJ.

Mohan Peiris was a political appointee as an advisor to the cabinet of the present government - Head, Bar Association

Political friends?

Sri Lanka's legal fraternity takes a stand for judicial independence
Lawyers in Sri Lanka have boycotted the inauguration of the government's newly-appointed chief justice.
Sri Lanka's legal fraternity takes a stand for judicial independence (Credit: ABC)
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has been agitating for the reinstatement of sacked chief justice Shirani Bandaranayake, saying due process had not been followed.

Shirani Bandaranayake’s Ruling on Sacred Areas Act and not Divineguma Bill was the Cause of her Impeachment

Faced with this unexpected resistance, the government withdrew the Act in April 2012.
Three people were instrumental in impeding the Sacred Areas Act – CJ Bandaranayake, the Chief Minister of the NCP Berty Premalal Dissanayake and the Chief Minister of the EP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
14 months later all three are out of jobs.

by Tisaranee Gunasekara

90 per cent of the respondents to BT poll: No fair trial for Shirani B

Lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects and various other professionals this week slammed the impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake in a near unanimous vote saying she was unfairly judged.

Asked in a Business Times poll this week whether Ms Bandaranayake (who says she is legally still the chief justice) got a fair trial, more than 90 per cent of the respondents said NO.