{"id":56204,"date":"2012-10-09T14:23:38","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T14:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=56204"},"modified":"2012-10-09T14:23:38","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T14:23:38","slug":"international-commission-of-jurists-condemns-attack-on-the-judicial-services-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/international-commission-of-jurists-condemns-attack-on-the-judicial-services-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"International Commission Of Jurists Condemns Attack On The Judicial Services Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Sri Lankan government must immediately provide justice for the physical assault on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Manjula+Tillekaratne&amp;x=5&amp;y=5\">Manjula Tillekaratne<\/a><\/span>, Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission in Sri Lanka, and cease public efforts to undermine the independence of the country\u2019s judiciary, the International Commission of Jurists said today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/international-commission-of-jurists-condemns-attack-on-the-judicial-services-commission\/icj-logo_ci\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-56205\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-56205\" title=\"ICJ logo_CI\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ICJ-logo_CI.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ICJ-logo_CI.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ICJ-logo_CI-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a>Unidentified persons assaulted the Secretary of the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Judicial+Services+Commission&amp;x=12&amp;y=7\">Judicial Services Commission<\/a><\/span> on the morning of 7 October 2012.\u00a0 Lawyers and judges held a strike on Monday to protest recent and escalating threats to judicial independence in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This physical assault is another terrible step downward in the ongoing effort to undermine the judiciary and the rule of law in Sri Lanka,\u2019 said Sam Zarifi, ICJ\u2019s Asia Director. \u2018The Sri Lankan government has to investigate this event and bring the perpetrators to justice, and ensure that the country\u2019s judges are secure from assault and intimidation.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in September, the Sri Lankan President <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapksa&amp;x=5&amp;y=7\">Mahinda Rajapksa<\/a><\/span> had demanded a meeting with the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Shirani+Bandaranayake&amp;x=13&amp;y=7\">Chief Justice<\/a><\/span> and two members of the JSC.\u00a0 The JSC refused the request, citing the implications of such a meeting on the independence of the judiciary.\u00a0 The request came in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down a pending bill before the parliament \u2013 the \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Divineguma+Bill&amp;x=12&amp;y=2\">Divi Neguma Department Bill<\/a><\/span>,\u201d which proposed to establish a new department by amalgamating the Samurdhi Authority, Southern Development Authority and the Udarata Development Authority. If passed, the bill would confer wide powers to the Economic Development Minister as well as access to funds.<\/p>\n<p>State-controlled print and electronic media then engaged in a public campaign of vilifying the Chief Justice and other members of the JSC who are also sitting Supreme Court Justices. On 18 September 2012, the JSC directed its Secretary to issue a public statement citing the baseless criticism of its members in the state electronic and print media.\u00a0 The JSC indicated that it had been subjected to threats and intimidation.\u00a0 \u00a0Notably, the JSC said it was subjected \u2018to various influences after the Commission initiated disciplinary action against a judge.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>On 28 September 2012, JSC Secretary Manjula Tillekaratne expressed concern for \u2018the security of all of us and our families beginning from the person holding the highest position in the judicial system.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The effort to use State-controlled media to browbeat and intimidate judges is an egregious assault on the independence and impartiality of Sri Lanka\u2019s judiciary. An independent judiciary is a necessary precondition to safeguard human rights,\u2019 said Zarifi.<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary makes clear that it is the responsibility of the State to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary, protecting judges from any improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interference.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, the independence of the judiciary has come under attack in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 In July 2012, Government Minister <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Rishad+Bathiudeen&amp;x=10&amp;y=7\">Rishad Bathiudeen<\/a><\/span> threatened a Magistrate in Mannar and then orchestrated a mob to pelt stones and set fire to part of the Mannar courthouse.\u00a0 Lawyers and judges held a nation-wide strike to protest the incident.\u00a0 The <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=+Bar+Association+of+Sri+Lanka&amp;x=5&amp;y=3\">Bar Association of Sri Lanka<\/a><\/span> as well as the Judges Association of Sri Lanka issued public statements condemning the attacks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CONTACT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia-Pacific Regional Director, (Geneva)<\/p>\n<p>t:+41(0) 22 979 38 00; email: sam.zarifi@icj.org<\/p>\n<p>Sheila Varadan, ICJ Legal Advisor, South Asia Programme (Bangkok), t: +66 857200723; email: sheila.varadan@icj.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":56205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[3167,5405,5233,5401,5404,5402,5403],"class_list":["post-56204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories","tag-attacks-on-judiciary-sri-lanka","tag-independence-of-the-judiciary-attacked-in-sri-lanka","tag-independence-of-the-judiciary-sri-lanka","tag-international-commission-of-jurists-condemns-attack-on-the-judicial-services-commission","tag-international-commission-of-jurists-on-sri-lanka","tag-physical-assault-on-manjula-tillekaratne","tag-secretary-of-the-judicial-services-commission"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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