Manipulation of the rule of law is the order of the day

J.C. Weliamuna

Chrishantha Weliamuna
''At the same time, they have planted political stooges at every important position that can influence the public thinking. This includes everyone from the vice chancellors of the national universities to heads of important public institutions and even principals of prominent schools. Appointing ex-military personnel as well as serving officers to important civil administrative positions is also part of this strategy. By doing so, the government has quite effectively prevented any public debate or discussion on human rights, democracy, corruption, rule of law''

‘Impeachment’ of the Chief Justice ( Part 02)

From the moment that Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announced to the media that the CJ would not be impeached, it was rather obvious that that was precisely what the government intended doing. He fooled nobody. 117 MPs have signed a notice of a resolution containing charges including acts committed in her personal capacity for the presentation of an address and handed it over to the Speaker on 1st November, 2012. The proviso to Clause 107(2) makes it mandatory for the Speaker to satisfy himself that the said notice sets out full particulars of the alleged misbehaviour of the Chief Justice before entertaining such resolution and placing it on the Order Paper of Parliament. If, as contended by the UNP, no Court has defined misbehaviour, the Speaker is required to act quasi-judicially in arriving at his decision.

Sri Lanka: Rift between president and judiciary - A Socialist perspective

The anti-democratic nature of this course of action was highlighted by the fact that in the war-ravaged north,
where there is no provincial council,the government will seek the “approval” of the governor, a military commander

Sanjaya Jayasekera
Lower court judges and lawyers in Sri Lanka boycotted judicial work on Monday and Tuesday, to protest an attack on Judicial Service Commission (JSC) secretary Manjula Tilakaratne by pistol-wielding thugs on Sunday.

The JSC is a constitutionally independent body, headed by the chief justice and two Supreme Court judges, and responsible for the recruitment and transfers of lower court judges, and any disciplinary action against them.

Immediate justice for the physical assault on Manjula Tillekaratne, Secretary of the JSC is essentional - ICJ

The Sri Lankan government must immediately provide justice for the physical assault on Manjula Tillekaratne, Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission in Sri Lanka, and cease public efforts to undermine the independence of the country’s judiciary, the International Commission of Jurists said today.

Unidentified persons assaulted the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission on the morning of 7 October 2012. Lawyers and judges held a strike on Monday to protest recent and escalating threats to judicial independence in Sri Lanka.