Legislature accused of trying to control judiciary

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
The Judicial Service Association of Sri Lanka which comprise of judges,  in a letter addressed to Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, had informed there is a suspicion about  a move to bring the judiciary under another institution.
The letter signed by Judicial Service Association of Sri Lanka President,  District Judge Kuliyapitiya, RuwanDissanayake, and its secretary Additional Magistrate Colombo, Pasan Amarasena said, there is a suspicion that independence of the judiciary will be done away with in a situation where another institution tries to control it.

“We have noticed that the association decided to inform the Judicial Service Commission on the information revealed at a debate in Parliament on July 5 on the backlog of court cases. We work with solid understanding on the situation pertaining to the backlog. However MPs referred to verdicts given by the judiciary on some human rights cases, qualifications of some judges and verdicts delivered by magistrates. They also referred to powers vested with the legislature and criticized judicial officers. 

The Judicial Service  Commission  through  recent circulars, have managed to reduce the backlog of court cases in several fold. Also it is notable that delays have been a result of restrictions imposed to courts during the COVID 19 pandemic.   However the MPs have made various statements and this makes us suspect that there is an effort by another institution to take control of the judiciary,” the letter said.