“We remind the government and the representatives in the legislature that it is important to adopt a transparent and inclusive process of policy and law-making that is proportionate and responsive to the needs of the people. Dialogue and communication with the sovereign people of this country will deepen legitimacy and public trust in governance,” says the Lawyers’ Collective.<\/p>\n
We publish below the statement in full:<\/p>\n
The Lawyers\u2019 Collective writes to the new Cabinet of Ministers and all members of the newly elected 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka on the importance of recognizing the legislative mandate signalled by the people at this election. We congratulate all elected representatives of the new parliament and emphasize that the mandate given is a clarion call to ensure that the legislative agenda reflects the sovereign will of the people.<\/p>\n
We urge the\u00a0new government to\u00a0recognize now and without further delay the\u00a0need for action on the promises given to the nation on an urgent national legislative agenda. The absence of a 2\/3 majority hampered progress on earlier attempts at constitutional reform and this type of agenda. The massive mandate given by the Sovereign People of Sri Lanka for vital legislative reform must be accompanied by swift action to carry this promised\u00a0agenda forward, with due attention to urgent priorities.<\/p>\n
In light of the massive mandate to carry forward this vision\u00a0of accountable governance to the Sovereign People of Sri Lanka, the Lawyers\u2019 Collective wishes to highlight the need to carry forward promised reforms in a new legislative agenda prioritizing\u00a0the following areas:<\/p>\n
The Preamble to the Constitution has been a reminder of the purpose of the confidence reposed by the People in their Representatives. It is to \u2018\u2026constitute SRI LANKA into a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC whilst ratifying the immutable republican principles of REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY and assuring to all Peoples FREEDOM, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS and the INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY as the intangible heritage that guarantees the dignity and well-being of succeeding generations of the People of SRI LANKA and of all the People of the World, who come to share with those generations the effort of working for the creation and preservation of a JUST AND FREE SOCIETY<\/i>:\u2019<\/p>\n
Towards constituting this vision of Sri Lanka, the Lawyers Collective highlights the most urgent of the legislative reform that must be prioritized.<\/p>\n
<\/b>1. Abolish the Executive Presidency<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The autocratic rule made possible in the role of the executive president has been extremely damaging to democracy, the rule of law and the independence of institutions including the judiciary. The abuse of power and undermining of all public institutions and the corruption that has accompanied this have been witnessed by citizens for decades, especially in 2009-2024.<\/span><\/p>\n The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna drew attention to this reality and sought the abolition of the Executive Presidency through the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, 2018. The\u00a0Samagi Jathika Balavegaya, the main opposition party, unsuccessfully brought the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution, 2022, during the last government to achieve this goal. Both the National People\u2019s Power and the Samagi Jathika Balavegaya promised this reform in their manifestos as a foundational basis\u00a0to eliminate corruption and achieve\u00a0accountable governance for the Sovereign People of Sri Lanka.<\/span><\/p>\n The Lawyers\u2019 Collective urges the President and the Government to place this matter at the top of the legislative agenda and take the necessary steps towards achieving it as a matter of priority. A great deal of work has already been done on this\u00a0issue reform, and there are important reports from both official\u00a0agencies and civil society organizations in the public domain. We also have the Constitution Bill of 2000 and the Twentieth and Twenty-first Amendment Bills referred to above. The Constitutional Assembly of 2016-17, to which the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna contributed immensely, also worked on this issue and presented an Interim Report and a draft constitutional bill. Thus, the task of drafting a constitution\u00a0to abolish the Executive Presidency can be completed in a few months in the first year of office. This can enable the President, as promised, to head the\u00a0government as the Prime Minister of the country,\u00a0responsible for accountable governance\u00a0to Parliament\u00a0and the People.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prioritizing this reform is vital. As the reform requires approval at a referendum, history has shown us that proposing such reform at later stages of a parliamentary term becomes a referendum on a government\u2019s performance instead of a referendum on the constitutional amendment. Governments also have to deal with political opposition by spoilers and an opposition that finds political gain making in retracting support for necessary reforms. To put it in another way, the Government must strike when the iron is hot. As the late Maduluwawe Sobhitha Nayaka Thero put it in pithy Sinhala in 2015 when advocating the immediate abolition of the Executive Presidency, the roti must be made while the pan is hot (\u2018thatiya rathvela thiyanakota rotiya puchchanna\u2019).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>2. Repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 (PTA)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The PTA has made a mockery of the anti-terrorism legal framework in Sri Lanka and has been repeatedly used by successive governments against individuals, groups and institutions to suppress legitimate freedoms of expression, assembly and other civic rights. The law has become infamous for its draconian provisions, which fully undermine the human rights safeguards that ought to be ordinarily provided to citizens. The PTA gives broad powers of arrest and detention based on a vague and broad definition of terrorism, and such powers are not subject to judicial review. It also provides for broad, extraordinary presidential powers. Repealing this law is thus crucial from human rights as well as reconciliation, accountability and institutional reform point of view.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Lawyers\u2019 Collective is distressed to note that the draconian PTA is still being used even in cases where the ordinary law of the land can be used. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>3. Repeal the Online Safety Act of 2023<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The Online Safety Act was proposed under the guise of protecting the rights of women and children, and its scheme is overwhelmingly focused on defamation and critique. This law regressed Sri Lanka\u2019s position of removing criminal liability from defamation. The law serves no purpose and is poorly crafted with overly broad definitions and powers. As such, it cannot sit in the law books of Sri Lanka as a necessary piece of legislation.<\/p>\n 4. Some current and recent issues of governance of concern<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The Lawyers\u2019 Collective notes that the powers of the executive presidency have been abused to undermine the autonomy of the public University system in Sri Lanka. We urge the legislature to consider the reforms that strengthen the independence and internal accountability mechanisms of the public university system.<\/p>\n The most recent issue that the Lawyers Collective takes this opportunity to highlight is the long-standing need for independence of institutions. An example of concern is the matter relating to the Vice Chancellor of Ruhuna University. The recent incidents in Ruhuna University demonstrate the manner in which\u00a0governing bodies and academic bodies in public universities have become dysfunctional due\u00a0to the years of political\u00a0interference in university administration. The Lawyers\u2019 Collective notes that the Minister of Education has exercised powers under the University’s Act to manage the current crisis. A Competent Authority has been appointed as an interim measure. However, for the Rule of Law to be followed and sustained, there must be an independent\u00a0inquiry, with due process and respect\u00a0for norms of natural justice and the right of the Vice-Chancellor\u00a0of the Ruhuna University to be heard before a Competent Authority is appointed or he is removed from office. This is a Presidential appointment and it is the President who can remove a Vice-Chancellor in consultation with the UGC. Such a decision would also require due process be observed by all involved in the decision. The President may act on the basis of\u00a0a report by an inquiry committee forwarded to him by\u00a0the Minister of Education with her recommendation.<\/p>\n The legislative agenda outlined above represents a clear break from autocratic and oppressive centralized rule to ruling by people for people. Signalling this break with these legislative reforms will be received as a fulfilment of the mandate and will set the tone for institutional governance that is people-focused.<\/p>\n The Lawyers\u2019 Collective has been a voice for democracy, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka. As evidenced by our several statements in the last few years, the process of law-making has failed the people of this country. We remind the government and the representatives in the legislature that it is important to adopt a transparent and inclusive process of policy and law-making that is proportionate and responsive to the needs of the people. Dialogue and communication with the sovereign people of this country will deepen legitimacy and public trust in governance.<\/p>\n Yours faithfully,<\/p>\n On behalf of the Lawyers\u2019 Collective<\/p>\n Mr. Upul Jayasuriya, President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Attorney-at-Law<\/p>\n Mr. Geoffrey Alagaratnam, President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n Mr. Saliya Pieris, President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n Mr. S.T. Jayanaga, President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n Professor Deepika Udagama<\/p>\n Professor Camena Gunaratne<\/p>\n Rev. Fr. Noel Dias, Attorney-at-Law<\/p>\n Mr. K.W. Janaranjana, Attorney-at-Law<\/p>\n Mr. Srinath Perera, Attorney-at-law<\/p>\n Ms. Ermiza Tegal, Attorney-at-Law<\/p>\n Mr. Darshana Kuruppu, Attorney-at-Law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2704,"featured_media":239934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n