{"id":82757,"date":"2013-04-17T19:29:26","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T13:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=82757"},"modified":"2013-04-25T02:02:40","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T20:32:40","slug":"commonwealth-judges-and-lawyers-want-suspend-sri-lanka-from-the-councils-over-cj-impeachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/commonwealth-judges-and-lawyers-want-suspend-sri-lanka-from-the-councils-over-cj-impeachment\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Judges And Lawyers Want Suspend Sri Lanka From The Councils Over CJ Impeachment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The three branches of the legal profession, assembled at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa call upon the Members of the Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of its next meeting on 26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chief Justice - Shirani<\/p><\/div>\n

Issuing a statement the\u00a0Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the\u00a0Commonwealth Legal Education Association and the\u00a0Commonwealth Magistrates\u2019 and Judges\u2019 Association say “tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth especially given that the Sri Lankan Head of State will thereby assume the role of Chair – in – Office”<\/p>\n

We\u00a0publish\u00a0below the statement in full;<\/p>\n

RESOLUTION ON THE RULE OF LAW AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN SRI LANKA<\/strong><\/p>\n

REFERRING to the Statements<\/a><\/span> we have previously issued expressing our grave concern about the flawed impeachment process by which Chief Justice Bandaranayake<\/a><\/span> was removed from the office of Chief Justice in defiance of the judgements of the highest courts in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

REFERRING also to the statements of concern issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers;<\/p>\n

RECALLING:the Commonwealth (Latimer House<\/a><\/span>) Principles on the proper relationship between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; the Commonwealth Declarations of Principles and Values as recently embodied in the Commonwealth Charter;<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka’s commitment, as a Member of the Commonwealth, to these values;<\/p>\n

NOTING:that Membership of the Commonwealth is seen as a badge of respectability but that badge is being tarnished by repressive actions in Sri Lanka:<\/p>\n

– the continued erosion of the independence of the judiciary through the impeachment of the Chief Justice and the subsequent relocation of magistrates and judges in Sri Lanka;<\/p>\n

– the Executive’s failure to abide by court orders; and<\/p>\n

– the gross and persistent harassment of members of the legal profession and others who are seeking to defend these values in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

THE CLA, CLEA AND CMJA, representing three branches of the profession, assembled at the 18th Commonwealth Law Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa:<\/p>\n

1. Call upon the Members of the Commonwealth, through the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to place Sri Lanka on the agenda of its next meeting on 26 April 2013 and suspend it from the Councils of the Commonwealth for serious and persistent violations of the Commonwealth fundamental values. This suspension would not preclude the people of Sri Lanka from participating in non-governmental Commonwealth activities; and<\/p>\n

2. Exhort Members of the Commonwealth to reconsider the holding of the next Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka as to do so will:<\/p>\n

a) tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth especially given that the Sri Lankan Head of State will thereby assume the role of Chair – in – Office;<\/p>\n

b) call into grave question the value, credibility and future of the Commonwealth;<\/p>\n

c) be seen as condoning the action of governments who violate its principles and by its silence will undermine the moral authority it purports to have in protecting and promoting fundamental values of the rule of law and human rights Notwithstanding this resolution, the CLA, CLEA and CMJA affirm their support to those seeking to uphold the rule of law in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA)<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA)<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Magistrates\u2019 and Judges\u2019 Association (CMJA)<\/p>\n

Read more here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/p>\n

\u2018As A Member Of Commonwealth, Follow Its Values\u2019 Urge Commonwealth Judges, Magistrates And Lawyers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Impeachment: Esure Firness And Latimer House Principles Says Commonwealth Lawyers, Magistrates And Judges<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":59789,"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-82757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nCommonwealth Judges And Lawyers Want Suspend Sri Lanka From The Councils Over CJ Impeachment - 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\/commonwealth-judges-and-lawyers-want-suspend-sri-lanka-from-the-councils-over-cj-impeachment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commonwealth Judges And Lawyers Want Suspend Sri Lanka From The Councils Over CJ Impeachment - 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