Debilitated, but not too bad
For all the serious and inherent limits of the Seventeenth Amendment, the fact that a Constitutional Council and a system of independent commissions have been enacted is a very important step. It was the JVP’s intervention that got even this debilitated version through.
තරමක් අංගවිකලයි ඒත් නරකම නෑ
Ivan welcomes the 17th Amendment but lists its flaws: no public debate, no published draft, brief review by a three-judge bench, and passage without a final draft before Parliament. He faults the UNP’s weak first draft and lack of vigilance, credits the JVP for securing the reform but says it accepted a presidential nominee on the Constitutional Council and backed Jayampathy Wickramaratne’s plan to drop Mark Fernando and A.R.B. Amerasinghe from the Judicial Service Commission. The government, he says, kept the council, the Chief Justice and state media within its reach.
How independent are independent commissions?
Whatever the limits of the JVP’s programme, enacting the Constitutional Council and the four independent commissions of the Seventeenth Amendment before 24 September would be a first step towards changing the political culture of this country.
මෝඩකමට බෙහෙත් නැත
Justice Minister Batty Weerakoon objected when the UN Special Rapporteur on judicial independence, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, asked through the Foreign Minister that Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva stand aside until the impeachment is resolved. Ivan explains Sri Lanka’s obligations under the ICCPR, its 1997 accession to the Optional Protocol, the 1985 UN principles and the 1997 Beijing Statement, recalls Cumaraswamy’s earlier objection to Silva’s appointment over pending complaints and seniority, and calls the People’s Alliance era the darkest in the judiciary’s history.
Darkest period of judiciary
The UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges asked, through the Foreign Minister, that the Chief Justice be prevented from sitting while the impeachment was under way. The Justice Minister has protested that no power may interfere with the judiciary, which under our constitution is independent.
අගවිනිසුරුගේ දේශපාලන භූමිකාව
The editorial recalls Ravaya’s protest when Sarath N. Silva was appointed Chief Justice while facing complaints before the Supreme Court, and says the aim was to bring the court under the President’s control. It faults the opposition for its slow move to impeach him after the 17th Amendment episode, notes Rauff Hakeem’s refusal to back the impeachment even as his party became the first target, and reports Speaker Anura Bandaranaike’s remark that any impeachment of his sister would end with Silva deciding it.
Plotters of legal conspiracy stuck in mud
How a state metes out justice is said to show how civilised it is. The contents of the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, and the way power is being used to abort that impeachment, show how uncivilised the affairs of this country have become.
උසස් තනතුරුවලට පුද්ගලයන් පත් කිරීම
The Sarath N. Silva crisis shows the need for a system that prevents unsuitable appointments to posts such as Chief Justice. The editorial contrasts US Senate scrutiny of judicial nominees and South Africa’s constitutional body that shortlists three names, says the President appointed a man about to be disbarred in order to control the courts, and calls for his removal and for the proposed independent judicial commission to be enacted.
Democracy and the crisis in the judiciary
The judicial crisis around Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva is a question that can decide the politics of the country. At no point should the Supreme Court become a partner in an executive programme that runs against the principles it exists to protect.
දෝෂාභියෝගයක්
With an impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Ivan recalls the only earlier one under the 1978 Constitution, against Neville Samarakoon. He recounts Samarakoon’s career and clashes with Jayewardene’s government: the reconstituted Supreme Court, the Kalawana seat, the referendum amendment, the Ratanasara and Vivienne Goonewardene cases and mobs outside judges’ homes, and his 1984 speech that led to a select committee and impeachment committee. The contrast with today shows how far politics has declined.