Courts must have notes - CJ
Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Asoka de Silva says that it is a legal requirement for any investigative body – not only the courts -to keep records of an inquiry.
“Not only a court, any investigation needs to have its notes,” CJ de Silva told BBC Sandeshaya.
“If there are no notes, it does not become an investigation.”
The Chief Justice made the remarks when the BBC enquired about the recent revelations by a military court that it did not keep records of an investigation against the former army commander, Sarath Fonseka.
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| By Saroj Pathirana
BBC Sinhala service |
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| Asoka de Silva, who retires in May after serving two years as Chief Justice, says he worked according to his conscionse |
The Chief Justice (CJ) of Sri Lanka has strongly defended the recent Supreme Court verdict that ruled court martial is a competent court.
The ruling has come under strong criticism from senior lawyers and the opposition political parties after it sealed the fate of the former army commander, as a parliamentarian.
A group of lawyers has even launched a campaign to sign a petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its verdict.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya, CJ Asoka de Silva strongly defended the decision by the five-member panel.
"In Sri Lanka, only the high court and the military court that can sentence someone with capital punishment, for example," he said.
Political interference
Mr de Silva, who will be retiring after two years in the office, says even the Supreme Court does not have the powers to impose capital punishment.
|  In Sri Lanka, only the high court and the military court that can sentence someone with capital punishment
 CJ Asoka de Silva |
"According Sri Lanka's constitution, a sentence can be imposed only by a competent court according to the 13 amendment," he said.
"And the court martial can only impose punishment on those come under the military law, it cannot sentence everybody. That is why the Supreme Court decided that military court is a proper court."
Mr de Silva says that the military law applies to the former Gen Sarath Fonseka as he was charged within six months of his retirement.
As a result of the Supreme Court verdict, says the CJ, anybody sentenced by a military court should also lose his/her parliamentary seat as per the constitution.
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| Lawyers and opposition parties criticised the Supreme Court verdict on military courts |
"Even Mr Fonseka himself has established 150-200 military courts."
However there have been some media reports that the Supreme court panel has initially decided to reject the military court as a legitimate court but has changed the verdict after political pressure.
The CJ categorically rejected that suggestion.
"There was no political pressure at all. Our judges are not influenced by anybody. They stick to their own opinion," he told BBC Sinhala service.
"If there have been any difference of opinion, those judges have the opportunity to issue a separate judgement."
Mr de Silva stressed that it was a unanimous verdict of all the members of the panel.
'Did not resign'
The Chief Justice also categorically rejected recent media reports that said he offered to resign due to political influence by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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| The opposition leader questioned whether the CJ has tendered his resignation |
The outgoing CJ said there has been no political influence during his two year tenure in office.
The government categorically rejected the reports when Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickrasinghe, raised a question in the parliament.
"That was a false report. I had no political pressure at all," CJ Asoka N de Silva said.
"I don't read all those reports and I wouldn't be able to do anything else than responding to media reports if I was to deny those."
The Chief Justice retires in mid-May after serving two years in the office.
"I believe and I am satisfied that I worked according to my conscionse during this period," he added.
BBC Sandeshaya will be carrying a series of interviews with the outgoing CJ during the next few days.
Channel 4 News obtains exclusive footage from the "closed off"corner of northern Sri Lanka, showing evidence of camps, repression and abuse, ahead of the publication of the UN's report on war crimes.
"A number of credible sources have estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths. Two years after the end of the war, there is still no reliable figure for civilian deaths, but multiple sources of information indicate that a range of up to 40,000 civilian deaths cannot be ruled out at this stage" says the report compiled by the UN expert pannel. 
The Tamil National Alliance has welcomed the findings and recommendations by the advisory panel on Sri Lanka appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It says it observes that the ‘Report of the Advisory Panel to the UNSG confirms the truth of what happened to the unarmed Tamil civilians in the course of the conduct of the recently concluded war and is an irrefutable confirmation of the accounts of the events as reported by us to Parliament as and when they occurred’.
ageof 21 years and 10 months, and merely three weeks after the commencement of JVP insurgency!) may indicate that his status as the younger sibling of rookie SLFP MP from the troubled South and ‘patronage politics’ aided him tremendously in
document
Click on the image above to read more of Channel 4 News' coverage on the Sri Lanka war.
Trade unions say May Day is the only day reserved for workerss issues 
Sunday, 17 April 2011
[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2011, 23:25 GMT]
GOSL [Government of Sri L anka] is going to implement any of them [panel's recommendations], and the GOSL has already rejected all of them, according to published reports. Therefore, under these circumstances of longstanding and ongoing genocide against them [the Tamils], the only effective remedy the Tamil People now have is to create the State of Tamil Eelam and move to have the International Community recognize it." 
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday lashed out at the UN experts panel report on the conduct of the Sri Lanka government and armed forces during the last stages of the war against the LTTE in 2009, saying there was an agenda behind the report and if the United Nations cannot protect one of its member states, Sri Lanka will be forced to look for protection from Russia and ChinaForced to seek protection from Russia, China: Gota. FullStory>>> .
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a meeting held at Temple Trees today with electoral officers, declared that he is willing to go even to gallows to safeguard his motherland. "Certain groups with vested interest are still hell bent on bringing disrepute to Sri Lanka, almost two years after the war was ended," Rajapakse said according to political sources in Colombo. Rajapakse made these statements in reference to the UN-panels report on Sri Lanka war crimes which was submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Sri Lanka-based paper Island leaked the executive summary of the report in an attempt to soften the damages before the UN releases the full report, a political observer in Colombo saidRajapaksa reportedly told the meeting that he is willing to go to any length to safeguard Sri Lanka from these vested interest groups who are hell bent on bringing disrepute to his country. 
Audio: Weiss interview with ABC
