People must be made aware of country's laws: New CJ

The newly-appointed Chief Justice Priyasath Dep yesterday stressed the need for making ordinary people aware of the law and ensuring them access to the judiciary.

He emphasised this during his inaugural speech at the opening ceremony of National Law Week organized by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka .

“Creating awareness of the law among citizens is important. Citizens must know of his or her legal rights and the remedies available. Mitigation may not be the only option. We all thought that if there is an issue we need to resolve it through courts. There is the ‘gamsabha’ system where citizens of a village got together and resolve issues. However we have other alternatives or options available now. Citizens should be aware of these as well. These comprise mediation, reconciliation and arbitration,” he said. “The other issue is to be aware of various Acts, Ordinances and Amendments. Unfortunately most of the amendments are not available. The Bar Association, the Justice Ministry and the Government should publish these documents and make them available to the people,” he added.

Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe said arrangements were being made to translate some of the statutes and legislation into Tamil and that it would be completed within the next two and a half years. (YP)