Lawyers’ Assn. says Political parties should consider Judiciary system requirements

By Nishantha Hewage   

The political parties in power should first consider and fulfil the basic changes that Sri Lankan judiciary system requires, in a context where some voice clips by MP Ranjan Ramanayake, stirred controversy and raised many questions about the independence of judges, a collective of lawyers said.   
Young Lawyers’ Association Executive Committee Member Jayantha Dehiaththage made these remarks during a press conference held at Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), Colombo on Wednesday.   

Referring to the previous regimes he stressed that the political parties which used to be in opposition always emphasise on factors such as democracy, supremacy and independence of the judiciary, but they fail to fulfil promises made when they are in power.   

Dehiaththage also said that the delay in verdicts, basic facilities in courtrooms and the number of court cases that a judge has to handle a day are some of the basic issues that need to be addressed first. “But with the release of audiotapes by Ranjan stirred many questions and led many to challenge the independence of the judges”.   

He also stressed that there is a question whether these accusations solely aim at the betterment of the judiciary system when there are other issues that have been there for a long time.