Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa said in Parliament today (09) that the story that erupted yesterday regarding the President of the Court of Appeal was not a new story, but an incident that was being discussed in the judicial sector and the legal community like a spark hidden under the ashes and the entire judicial community should not be worried about it.
He said that what was discussed yesterday was only one isolated incident that happened in the overall very clean judicial system. Minister Roshan Ranasinghe clarified this during his statement yesterday.
However, Minister Nimal Siripala ended his speech in Parliament today by saying, “There is no room for criticizing the judiciary in this way in the parliamentary tradition. We have greatly undermined the judiciary. I apologize to the court as a lawyer.” saying that
Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa also said:
“We talked about the President of the Court of Appeal. In connection with this matter, a matter that was being talked about like an ember in the legal community exploded yesterday.
“It was a criticism related to a judge who came and clashed with a certain isolated incident.
But due to the way in which the situation in the Parliament is communicated, many judges and lawyers have become uncomfortable. Sometimes when the news is published, the headline itself shows that the entire judicial system has been attacked by the executive. That’s what it looks like. That’s not right.
It must be clearly stated that from the Chief Justice of the Court to the Magistrate, the impartiality and independence of the activities of the courts were never challenged in this Parliament. It is true how the performance of one judge was challenged.
The same is true of lawyers. There was no criticism of the actions of the lawyers in general.
If this judge is removed, it can be done only by the Parliament. Because appellate court judges and supreme court judges are not subordinate to any institution or person. Not bound.
Therefore, under Article 107 of the Constitution, a proposal should be submitted and adopted in the Parliament.
After this constitution was started, 03 Chief Justices were impeached. The impeachment of Chief Justice Neville Samarakoon and the impeachment of Chief Justice Sarath N Silva did not proceed. But Ms. Shirani Bandaranaike was impeached and she was removed from office.
In all these cases, there is an accusation that it is a conflict between the judiciary and the executive. But today there is no such situation. In accordance with public opinion, the Parliament has assembled without party differences.
