Ranil asks govt. how much is being paid to foreign legal experts

by Saman Indrajith-August 7, 2014

UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday in Parliament demanded to know from the government how much was being paid to the three member panel appointed to advise and assist the presidential commission on disappearances and missing persons.

Making a special statement Wickremesinghe said the President had appointed a three Member Panel of Experts to advise and assist Presidential Commission into Disappearance and Missing Persons chaired by Maxwell Paranagama.

"The Panel comprises Sir Desmond de Silva, QC, Sir Geoffrey Nice and Prof. D. Crane. A few more are to be appointed to the Panel.

"This Panel has been appointed subsequent to Human Rights Council – twenty fifth sessions Resolution A/HRC/25/L1/Rev1 of 26 March 2014, which states: ‘to monitor the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and to continue to assess progress on relevant national processes."  Under this resolution the appointment of the  panel is being commented in the media as a means of satisfying the requirements laid down in the above mentioned resolution.

"Therefore will the government make a statement to this House, the reasons for appointing the Panel? Will the government also inform this House: What was the process followed by the Government in selecting this panel? Which agency was responsible for negotiating with them? The basis for appointing these members?  Period of engagement? Whether they are paid, and if so how much? Where are the funds for the expenses for the panel, drawn from?"

"The Commissions of Inquiry Act clearly states that if the Commission has an issue they can seek the advice of public officials or the Attorney General, they cannot hire experts from outside to do their work. If they are incapable of completing the task, they should resign. Payments for experts are not authorized under the Act."

Wickremesinghe also asked whether the government had lost confidence in the Attorney General and his ability to advise the government on legal issues. "Is this why you have hired international experts?" he queried.

Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris said there was no legal impediment with regard to the appointment of the three members to the Commission. The members had been appointed at the request of the Commission, to aid them in various legal issues that had cropped up.

"The Commission was appointed on 15 August 2013 and in June of this year the Commission informed the President that they had interviewed 16,000 people. They told the President that various legal issues had come up and that they needed expert help in order to speed things up. It is the government’s responsibility to strengthen the Commission so as to not allow room for external parties to intervene."

Prof. Peiris said the government had not lost confidence in the Attorney General but hired the experts as the Attorney General did not specialise in the particular field of law needed for the purpose of the Commission. There was no process involved in the selection of the members and that they had been selected on the basis of their ability and qualifications to do the job. The office of the President had made the appointments, Prof. Peiris said.