The Executive President – Public Office Above The Law
Nagananda Kodituwakku
There are very serious allegations being leveled against the government particularly by the international community about the apparent lawlessness in the country. Some are of a very serious nature including that there is no Rule of Law in Sri Lanka, the fundamental constitutional norm respected by all democracies.
In response to these allegations, which include the lack of Good Governance, Separation of Power and Accountability, the government repeatedly states that there is a system of accountability in place, no one is above the law and all government actions are driven by the Rule of Law. Are these statements, mostly made by Minister G L Peiris well-founded or grossly baseless and lacking any credibility?
In this backdrop the statement made by the Chief Justice Mohan Pieris at the KDU International Research Symposium – 2013, in this regard is very important. The Chief Justice expressed the government view on the Rule of Law, Good Governance and Separation of Power, stating that Good Governance and Rule of Law are nice words but are not found in any part of the world and therefore one need not worry too much about it. The Chief Justice further stated that there is no clear line that demarcates the Separation of powers between the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary.
Those who are concerned with the plight of the Judiciary in this country today are quite aware that Chief Justice Dr Bandaranayake lost the ‘pleasure of the executive’ as the Supreme Court declared a number of bills presented by the government which were challenged before the Supreme Court, as unconstitutional and that prompted the government to take ‘corrective measures’ to ensure her removal, the process of which was held unlawful by both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
Thereafter, despite serious allegations of dishonesty and gross misconduct, leveled against Mr Mohan Pieris in a fundamental rights petition filed before the Supreme Court, which were hitherto uncontested, the Executive President installed him at the office of the Chief Justice. Read More
