{"id":75777,"date":"2013-03-04T03:23:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T03:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=75777"},"modified":"2013-03-08T07:54:20","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T07:54:20","slug":"we-have-to-grill-aspirants-to-the-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/we-have-to-grill-aspirants-to-the-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"We Have To Grill Aspirants To The Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

Problems between the Executive and Judiciary, interestingly, have all been related to judges whose appointments have been colored by political preferences.\u00a0 It is not that they were unsuited, but nevertheless their appointments and therefore integrity were naturally questioned.\u00a0 Still, as happened when Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake<\/a><\/span> was impeached and removed from office, the focus was less on injudicious selection than on constitutional provision for removal.\u00a0 Thus, until such time appointments to the Supreme Court are made only consequent to a stringent screening process provided for or supported by relevant legislative enactment, there can and will be impeachment circuses while the 1978 Constitution<\/a><\/span> remains effective.<\/p>\n

Now that it\u2019s all done and dusted it is perhaps time to think of \u2018starting point\u2019 rather than anticipating and taking precaution against endpoints similar to what we saw a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

In many countries aspirants or nominees to the Supreme Court are subjected to rigorous scrutiny.\u00a0 Their histories, professional track record, all judgments passed, political positions taken, statements made as well as the lives of close associates including friends and family, are carefully considered in order to evaluate impartiality and integrity.\u00a0 Not so in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

True, a president cannot pick just anyone off the street.\u00a0 There are certain categories that are privileged.\u00a0 We have had judges of the Supreme Court promoted from lower courts, moved from the Attorney General\u2019s Department or drawn from the academic community.\u00a0 Thus, there are some basic credentials that one must possess.\u00a0 On the other hand, credentials are only part of the story.\u00a0 An example might shed better light on the matter and hopefully prompt appropriate safeguards to be put in place.<\/p>\n

Shirani Bandaranayake was an academic and one with explicit ideological preferences.\u00a0 \u00a0In fact she was admonished and instructed not to take cases that had anything to do with devolution, given certain outcome preferences and particularities of political reading.\u00a0 She did.\u00a0 She irked the Executive.\u00a0 She paid the price, and the legality or ethicality of process of the matter are not our concern here.\u00a0 The issue is \u2018ideological preferences\u2019. The issue is past record.\u00a0 Let\u2019s consider these via an unlikely appointment which is useful for purposes of illustrating the importance of circumspection in appointment.<\/p>\n

Let us assume that President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> goes for certificate-weight. Let us assume that he picks Dr Lakshman Marasinghe, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Windsor, Canada, Attorney-at-Law and Barrister-at-Law (Inner Temple), one time Visiting Professor of Law, University of Colombo and Legal Director of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) during the early days of the Ceasefire Agreement.\u00a0 Impressive indeed, no one would dispute the fact.<\/p>\n

But is Marasinghe \u2018clear\u2019 on other issues, especially but not limited to matters arising from the constitution (as is) and questions of sovereignty, territorial integrity and so on?<\/p>\n

In an interview published in the Sunday Observer (March 14, 2004), Marasinghe waxes eloquent on \u2018extra constitutional methods to change the constitution\u2019.\u00a0 He interjects an interesting term: \u2018the doctrine of necessity\u2019.\u00a0 It\u2019s about measuring evils and picking \u2018the lesser\u2019.\u00a0 Subjective to core, one would observe.\u00a0 He also interjects \u2018efficacy\u2019, in the event of a coup d\u2019tat.\u00a0 He adds that all that is required is \u2018judicial control in the determination of (the) particular formula\u2019 when certain articles are changed.\u00a0 Now, if he were Chief Justice in a time of upheaval, say in an Arab Spring, post-Gaddafi Libya or \u2018Imminent Syria\u2019, where political control is dispersed, what then?\u00a0 It would depend on his political preferences!\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Necessity\u2019 then would justify and legitimate judicial action even if it amounted to recognizing de facto control of part of Sri Lanka by the LTTE<\/a><\/span> and thereby conferring such with illegal control, with de jure status.<\/p>\n

Marasinghe also spoke about \u2018extra constitutional means to set up an interim administration a la<\/em> the infamous ISGA proposals.\u00a0 He states, \u2018A two-thirds majority is not relevant\u2019 according to the present constitution\u2019 a claim that has been disputed.\u00a0 More importantly says that \u2018if you set up an interim administration outside the constitutional framework (as would have been the case if the ISGA proposals had gone through) then you would be recognizing that, that territory is apart from the constitution and not within the territory of Sri Lanka\u2019.<\/p>\n

He illustrated the point graphically thus: \u2018If you cover a table with a green cloth and put a white cloth over it and then withdraw parts of the white cloth, the green will appear.\u00a0 Setting up an interim administration outside the constitution would be similar \u2013 two different territories.\u2019<\/p>\n

Marasinghe, in his capacity as Director (Legal) of SCOPP, was involved in preparing the MOU to be entered into between the Government and the LTTE in order to place foreign funds directly in the hands of the LTTE.\u00a0 The MOU, moreover, provided that these funds would be treated as loans to the Government and repaid therefore by the Government, although they would be sent directly to accounts not controlled by the GOSL, accounts which the LTTE could access!\u00a0 The Supreme Court, later, stayed these provisions as unconstitutional (Weerawansa v Attorney General).<\/p>\n

Marasinghe advocated this mechanism at the relevant government ministries and departments.\u00a0 His approach was clearly unprincipled as demonstrated by the SC decision<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all scholarly.\u00a0 Eminently \u2018respectable\u2019.\u00a0 Impeccable academic credentials, however, is still only a thin film in the matter of covering up political project, ideological drive and such.<\/p>\n

The problem is that the current system is so loose that a Marasinghe could very well creep into the Supreme Court.\u00a0 When Bandaranayaka was appointed, her ideological preferences were not scrutinized or rather they may have been scrutinized and won approval from a like-minded political establishment.\u00a0 Bandaranayaka subsequently went on to do her utmost to wreck the Government\u2019s signature development project.\u00a0 That was scripted, not when Divi Neguma<\/a><\/em><\/span> came up but when she was appointed to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

The question is, can we (forget the Government) afford to err?\u00a0 Should we not subject those who are recommended to such positions to rigorous scrutiny?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that a price that aspirants ought to be ready to pay?\u00a0 Or is a Marasinghe going to wreck us somewhere down the line?<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation<\/a>\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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