{"id":69754,"date":"2013-01-15T18:16:56","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T18:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=69754"},"modified":"2013-01-17T00:36:51","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T00:36:51","slug":"appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/","title":{"rendered":"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law – ICJ"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

“The appointment of former Attorney General Mohan Peiris<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 as Sri Lanka\u2019s new Chief Justice raises serious concerns about the future of the Rule of Law and accountability in the country2 says , the International Commission of Jurists.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mohan Pieris<\/p><\/div>\n

Mohan Peiris has served in a variety of high-level legal posts in the past decade, always playing a key role in defending the conduct of the Sri Lankan government.<\/p>\n

He served as Sri Lanka\u2019s Attorney-General from 2009 to 2011. Since then he has served as the legal adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> and the Cabinet.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring his tenure as Attorney-General and the government\u2019s top legal advisor Mohan Peiris consistently blocked efforts to hold the government responsible for serious human rights violations and disregarded international law and standards,\u201d said Sam Zarifi, ICJ\u2019s Asia director.<\/p>\n

\u201cMohan Peiris\u2019 appointment as the new Chief Justice, after a politically compromised and procedurally flawed impeachment, adds serious insult to the gross injury already inflicted on Sri Lanka\u2019s long suffering judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The International Commission of Jurists, in its recent\u00a0report on impunity in Sri Lanka<\/a>, highlighted Mohan Peiris\u2019 lack independence as Attorney-General, noting the alarming number of cases involving prominent politicians that were withdrawn during his tenure.<\/p>\n

In November 2011, as Attorney General, Peiris told the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva that political cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, believed to have been subjected to enforced disappearance in January 2010, had actually left Sri Lanka. In June 2012, Peiris admitted to a court in Colombo that this claim was groundless.<\/p>\n

\u201cICJ condemns this appointment as a further assault on the independence of the judiciary and calls on the Sri Lankan government to reinstate Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake<\/a><\/span>. If there are grounds for questioning the Chief Justice\u2019s actions, they should be pursued following due process and a proper impeachment process.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement today (Click here<\/a><\/span>), Justice Bandarayanake strongly denied all the charges against her and asserted her status as the legal Chief Justice of Sri Lanka\u2019s supreme court. She said: \u201cI have suffered because I stood for an independent judiciary and withstood the pressures.\u00a0 It is the People who are supreme and the Constitution of the Republic recognizes the rule of law and if that rule of law had prevailed, I would not have been punished unjustly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":69756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nAppointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-15T18:16:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-17T00:36:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"175\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/\",\"name\":\"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-15T18:16:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-17T00:36:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif\",\"width\":\"175\",\"height\":\"200\",\"caption\":\"Mohan Pieris\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law – ICJ\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-01-15T18:16:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-17T00:36:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":175,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/","name":"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law - ICJ - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif","datePublished":"2013-01-15T18:16:56+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-17T00:36:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif","width":"175","height":"200","caption":"Mohan Pieris"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/appointment-of-new-chief-justice-undermines-rule-of-law-icj\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Appointment Of New Chief Justice Undermines Rule Of Law – ICJ"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mohan-Pieris.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69754"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69926,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69754\/revisions\/69926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}