Midweek Politics: The Summons
Dharisha Bastians
Friday, 23 November marks a watershed in Sri Lankan judicial history. For only the second time ever, the country’s top judge has been ordered appear before a parliamentary panel convened to probe charges of misconduct against her in a process that has been roundly criticized as unconstitutional and going against all principles of natural justice. How Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake answers her accusers during the process that begins with her ‘summons’ tomorrow, will determine the fate of the country’s judicial system – whether it will submit to executive will or continue to stand firm as the final hurdle on the road to authoritarianism
Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice, is often depicted with a set of scales in one hand and a double-edged sword in another. Later replicas of this icon depict Lady Justice with a blindfold over her eyes.
Through the centuries the statue has come to represent the moral force of the judicial system, with scales to represent the weighing of merits of a case, the sword to symbolise the power of reason and justice and perhaps most importantly, the cover over her eyes to signify the objectivity of the law in the face of identity, money, power or weakness. It is only if the law is blind and judges see nothing but the merits of a specific case that the citizen can be guaranteed fair trial and equality before the law.
Tomorrow, Sri Lanka’s fourth citizen and chief custodian of the people’s judicial power, has been ordered to present herself before a Select Committee of Parliament tasked with probing wide-ranging allegations of ‘improper conduct’ against her. If she answers the summons, Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice of the Supreme Court, Doctor of Law and first female Chief Justice in the country’s judicial history, will learn what others have learned before her – that in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration, the fall from grace often has brutal consequences.
Ironically, the most fundamental question regarding this attempted impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is whether there is any chance of objectivity in her case, whether she will be guaranteed the right to a fair trial, even as Government legislators presume to judge the merits of the impeachment motion against her despite the obvious perceptions of bias inherent to the process.
Senior lawyers point out that process to impeach the Chief Justice violates the legal principle of nemo iudex in sua causa or ‘that no man should be judge in his own cause’ because the motion will be heard by panel of members of whom a significant majority hail from the same Government that is bringing the charges against her.Perhaps this watershed moment will reinforce for the Chief Justice and every judge in the land, how critical the independence of judicial officers is to the safeguarding of individual freedoms. But there is no guarantee in this case that the rights of the Chief Justice will be upheld as the PSC begins deliberations on the charges against her.
Legal action against PSC
A ‘meme’ or image being passed around electronically, that speaks to the heart of a democracy in crisis
