{"id":70863,"date":"2013-01-23T13:23:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T13:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=70863"},"modified":"2013-02-01T09:23:55","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T09:23:55","slug":"judges-around-the-world-condemn-impeachment-of-chief-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/judges-around-the-world-condemn-impeachment-of-chief-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinstate The Legal CJ &#8211; Judges Around The World Condemn Impeachment Of Chief Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=International+Commission+of+Jurists&amp;x=7&amp;y=3\">International Commission of Jurists<\/a><\/span>\u00a0&#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today, senior judges and eminent jurists from around the world joined together, calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to reinstate the legal Chief Justice Dr <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Shirani+Bandaranayake&amp;x=6&amp;y=6\">Shirani Bandaranayak<\/a><\/span>e.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_70010\" style=\"width: 188px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/impeachment-of-the-sri-lankan-chief-justice\/cj-sc\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-70010\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70010\" class=\"size-full wp-image-70010\" title=\"CJ SC\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/CJ-SC.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"178\" height=\"243\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-70010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chief Justice Bandaranayake<\/p><\/div>\n<p>An open letter issued by the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) was sent to the Honorable Speaker of Parliament <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Chamal+Rajapaksa&amp;x=10&amp;y=7\">Chamal Rajapakse<\/a><\/span> and H.E. President <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa&amp;x=6&amp;y=3\">Mahinda Rajapakse<\/a><\/span>, condemning the removal of Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayake as unconstitutional and in contravention of international standards on judicial independence.<\/p>\n<p>The letter emphasized that an independent and impartial judiciary is essential for the protection of human rights, the rule of law, good governance and democracy.<\/p>\n<p>It says: \u201cThe irremovability of judges is a main pillar of judicial independence. Judges may be removed only in the most exceptional cases involving serious misconduct or incapacity. And in such exceptional circumstances, any removal process must comport with international standards of due process and fair trial, including the right to an independent review of the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The impeachment process, and subsequent removal of the legal Chief Justice disregarded international standards of judicial independence and minimum guarantees of due process and fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Rajapakse Government has brought Sri Lanka within steps of authoritarian rule, dismantling the system of checks and balances and eviscerating judicial independence,\u201d said Wilder Tayler, ICJ Secretary General.<\/p>\n<p>The Government\u2019s conduct is a flagrant violation of the core values of the Commonwealth of Nations, notably the\u00a0<em>Latimer House Principles on the Three Branches of Government 2003<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Latimer House Principles require the State to uphold the rule of law by protecting judicial independence and maintaining mutual respect and cooperation between Parliament and the Judiciary.<\/p>\n<p>The Commonwealth Magistrates\u2019 and Judges\u2019 Association endorsed the letter.<\/p>\n<p>In recent days, lawyers and advocates, opposing the impeachment have allegedly been sent threatening letters from a group identified as the Patriotic Taskforce.<\/p>\n<p>The group has targeted the lawyers as traitors. Civil society groups have also been targeted in smear campaigns in the media. The Chief Justice has voiced concern for her and her family\u2019s safety, calling on the international media to \u201c\u2026look after the three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSri Lanka must act immediately to guarantee the security of persons who have been the subject of threats or intimidation and must initiate prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into such allegations,\u201d Tayler added.<\/p>\n<p>The ICJ\u2019s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and the undersigned jurists urge H.E. President Mahinda Rajapakse and Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapakse to act immediately to restore the independence of the judiciary by reinstating the legal Chief justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read the FULL VERSION OF THE LETTER with list of signatories <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/ICJ-Open-Letter-Impeachment-Dr-Bandaranayake-Sri-Lanka.pdf\">here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read the\u00a0Sinhala Translation <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Translation-01.-Open-Letter-Impeachment-Dr-Bandaranayake-FINAL-25-01-13.pdf\">here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":70010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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