What Really Is Independence Of The Judiciary?

| by Ruwantissa Abeyratne

( June 10, 2014, Montreal, Sri Lanka Guardian) In an article appearing in this journal on 9 June 2014 entitledIndependence of Judiciary: A Mirage in South Asia, it was stated: ” In Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the judiciary has been reduced to a subordinate entity of the state, where the concept of separation of powers is at its lowest ebb if not absent. In India, though the judiciary is largely independent of executive control, its daily functioning is subjugated to the government…” If this is true, it is indeed appalling news, as it goes against the most fundamental grain of decent government and governance.

Simplistically put, the judiciary is one of the three powers that are distinctly separated in a democracy. Called the Doctrine of Separation of Powers, the legislature, executive and judiciary are considered independent of one another - the first principle in constitutional law taught in any law school. Montesquieu, a founding father of the doctrine said: the most important freedom was the independence of the judiciary: “There is no liberty, if the judiciary is not separated from the legislative and executive”. Another distinguished jurist, Sir Igor Judge, said: ” The independence of the judiciary is something which is precious to every single member of the community. You must be able to go into court and know that the person sitting in judgment is neutral. Closer home, one of our own distinguished (former) judges, Justice Wigneswaran, in a public lecture delivered in December 2012 had this to say: Independence of the Judiciary means simply that the Judiciary needs to be kept aloof as far as possible from the other branches of Government and other interest groups. In other words, Courts should not be subject to improper influence be it from other branches of the Government, that is the Legislature as well as the Executive, or from private or partisan interests. If Judges in a country could decide cases and make rulings in applications before them according to the rule of law and according to their judicial discretion, even if they be unpopular and even if they may embarrass powerful vested interests, then we might say there is Independence of the Judiciary in such a country”.

There is global agreement on the need for a distinctly independent judiciary in any decent society. Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders held at Milan from 26 August to 6 September 1985 and endorsed by General Assembly resolutions 40/32 of 29 November 1985 and 40/146 of 13 December 1985 recognize fundamentally that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines in particular the principles of equality before the law, of the presumption of innocence and of the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

These global principles establish clearly that the independence of the judiciary shall be guaranteed by the State and enshrined in the Constitution or the law of the country. It is the duty of all governmental and other institutions to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary and that the judiciary shall decide matters before them impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason. They also provide that the judiciary shall have jurisdiction over all issues of a judicial nature and shall have exclusive authority to decide whether an issue submitted for its decision is within its competence as defined by law. The principles prohibit any inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process, and establish unequivocally that no judicial decisions taken by the courts shall be subject to revision. This principle is without prejudice to judicial review or to mitigation or commutation by competent authorities of sentences imposed by the judiciary, in accordance with the law. Everyone is given the right to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts or judicial tribunals.

Explicitly enshrined in the principles is the inherent right of judges, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to consider themselves, as members of the judiciary, to be like other citizens and therefore be entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly; provided, however, that in exercising such rights, judges have to always conduct themselves in such a manner as to preserve the dignity of their office and the impartiality and independence of the judiciary. Judges are free to form and join associations of judges or other organizations to represent their interests, to promote their professional training and to protect their judicial independence.

Judges, as persons selected for judicial office, are required to be individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training or qualifications in law. Judges, whether appointed or elected, have the right to guaranteed tenure until a mandatory retirement age or the expiry of their term of office, where such exists. Promotion of judges, wherever such a system exists, should be based on objective factors, in particular ability, integrity and experience. Without prejudice to any disciplinary procedure or to any right of appeal or to compensation from the State, in accordance with national law, judges should enjoy personal immunity from civil suits for monetary damages for improper acts or omissions in the exercise of their judicial functions.

Finally the United Nations Principles say that a charge or complaint made against a judge in his/her judicial and professional capacity has to be processed expeditiously and fairly under an appropriate procedure. The judge would have an inherent right to a fair hearing. The examination of the matter at its initial stage has to be kept confidential, unless otherwise requested by the judge. Judges are subject to suspension or removal only for reasons of incapacity or behaviour that renders them unfit to discharge their duties. All disciplinary, suspension or removal proceedings are required to be determined in accordance with established standards of judicial conduct. Decisions in disciplinary, suspension or removal proceedings should be subject to an independent review. This principle may not apply to the decisions of the highest court and those of the legislature in impeachment or similar proceedings.

Judges are individuals who hold a sacred and honourable office that is responsible for administering the rule of law. In other words a rule of equality of all before the law. John Locke (1632-1704,) in his Second Treatise of Government, argues that legitimate government is a limited government based on consent, in which the majority rules but may not violate people’s fundamental rights. People’s fundamental rights are intrinsic to the independence of the judiciary and a judiciary without the independence as globally recognized under United Nations Principles, would be a mockery of justice.

The author served the United Nations in Montreal for 24 years and is currently President/CEO, Global Aviation Consultancies Inc. Montreal, and Senior Associate, Air Law and Policy, Aviation Strategies International, Montreal.

BASL to act against the BBS

Tuesday, 10 June 2014 

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is likely to take action against the Sinhala Buddhist extremists, the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).

The issue had surfaced when two lawyers had reportedly filed a police complaint alleging that the BBS’ leading monk had made abusive remarks against them outside the Fort Magistrate’s Court.
Lawyers Maithree Guneratne and Shiraz Noordeen had represented Ven. Watarake Vijitha Thero who is filing action against the BBS and its General Secretary Ven. Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thero for disrupting a press briefing at Nippon Hotel in April.

The lawyers have told police that Ven. Gnanasara Thero had passed by them, making provocative and racially charged remarks while the two attorneys were addressing the media outside the court complex.

The General Secretary’s remarks were reportedly made in full hearing of media personnel.
BASL President Upul Jayasuriya has told the media that the incident had been reported to the Bar and it was mulling action.

“We have to look into the incident. If the facts as reported are true, the BASL will be filing contempt charges against him,” Jayasuriya has said.

British Minister 'disappointed' with Sri Lankan absence at summit

Tamil Guardian 10 June 2014

British Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds has said that the UK is “disappointed” Sri Lanka chose not to endorse a British initiative to tackle sexual violence in conflict. Talking to the Tamil Guardian at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, which is currently under way in London, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs said, “We have an interesting relationship with the Sri Lankan government because we are pushing the international community to have an exploratory investigation into some of the allegations of human rights abuses that took place during the conflict... So we very much hope that the Sri Lankan government will engage with this important agenda in the fullness of time.” Commenting on Sri Lanka's decision not to endorse or sign the “Declaration of Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict”, the Minister added,  “What we find quite disappointing about Sri Lanka is that the other people who have not signed up to it are... the Syrians, the Zimbabweans... it is those who are not normally part of the international community, the North Koreans.. and we don't want Sri Lanka to be a part of that.”

Solheim to go before international tribunal on Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Former Norwegian Minister and peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim has said he is willing to be a witness at any recognized international tribunal on alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lanka during the war.

“I will be a witness before any recognized international tribunal if I am asked to do so,” Solheim has told Ceylon Today.

He has added that he has been asked by the UN, USA and others on different occasions to be a witness in an inquiry on alleged human rights violations.

Pointing out that during the war, tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed and hospitals were shelled, the former peace envoy has said such atrocities cannot be buried without conducting investigations into them.

Solheim, noting that peace in Sri Lanka was won by the war at a tremendous cost, has said he still believes peace could have been achieved without the bloodshed.

When asked why Norway’s peace process failed in Sri Lanka, the former peace envoy said it was wrong to isolate Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tamil terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the reason behind the failure.

He has said only Norway met with the LTTE leaders for negotiations and it would have been much better if a number of international leaders had met Prabhakaran and had impressed upon him the need to compromise and to settle for federalism.

“During the last four months of the war, we called upon Prabhakaran to accept an 'organized' end to the war, which would have saved the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and thousands of LTTE cadres. Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) can bear witness to this. It is so sad he did not accept the facts,” Solheim has said.

We Don’t Care; Govt. Conformed Its Position On UN Panel

Sri Lanka says will not cooperate with the OHCHR-driven “comprehensive investigation”

Here is the full text of the statement issued by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva 

( June 10, 2014, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian ) Sri Lanka has reiterated its categorical rejection of the Human Right Council Resolution 25/1, and said it will not cooperate with the OHCHR-driven so called “comprehensive investigation” emanating from it. Sri Lanka has observed that the Government is firmly committed to continuing its ongoing processes of reconciliation, nation building and accountability, and towards this end, will continue to work with countries and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations that are genuinely interested in the welfare of the Sri Lankan people.

We Don’t Care; Govt. Conformed Its Position on UN Panel by nelvely

Sri Lanka an unfit place for journalists to live in safety and security

Jaffna Press Club

June 9, 2014 

The Jaffna Press Club strongly condemns attempts by the State to prevent the knowledge -based development workshops for Tamil speaking journalists tarnishing them with a racist brush in circumstances where the threats against journalists and media organisations from the North of Sri Lanka are already at a very high level.

 

An investigative journalism training workshop organised by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) for journalists from the North-East was once again disrupted by state assisted goons. The workshop was disrupted by a group of more than hundred persons who carried out a protest against it.  On the 22^nd of May, 2014, the same workshop organised by TISL at Girithale, in Polonnaruwa, for journalists of the North-East was suspended after the direct intervention of the security forces.  That workshop had been organised with the title of ‘Investigative reporting on the enforcement of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)’. After receiving instructions from the Defence Ministry, military personnel from the Minneriya Army Base visited the site and issued a warning that led to the workshop being suspended. The journalists who had come for the workshop were sent back. The workshop was rescheduled for the 6^th of June, 2014 and began at a hotel in Negombo.  It is in this situation that a group of persons held a protest outside the hotel demanding that the workshop be cancelled.

 

The chief demand of the protestors was to cancel the workshop and turn out the journalists. It is pertinent to note that there was no protest or objection when the same workshop was held for journalists of our fellow race. Therefore we cannot but conclude that this protest was held with a sinister objective. It has also become public that these persons came well prepared for the protest.

 

The Sri Lankan State has been campaigning amongst the international community stating that it has been enforcing the recommendations made by the LLRC. It has also been continuously releasing data and statistics relating to those who surrendered and the number of persons who had disappeared. But in the domestic sphere we see that Tamil journalists are denied the opportunity to even speak about the LLRC recommendations and their enforcement.

 

Many journalists in the North-East have been murdered with impunity in recent critical times. Some have been abducted or been disappeared. A number of journalists have escaped murder attempts with serious injuries. Such a critical situation has led to many journalists fleeing the profession and even the country. In recent times the risky situation for journalists of the North-East has re-escalated. In the last two months alone atleast three journalists who worked in Jaffna have fled the country due to threats to their lives.

 

While the threats against the workshop were being made in Negombo, Sivagnanam Selvatheepan, a journalist from Jaffna who escaped an attempt on his life has fled Sri Lanka and sought refuge in a western country. We would like to therefore bring to the understanding of the international community that such continuous harassment of the media makes Sri Lanka an unfit place for journalists to live in safety and security.

Senior Journalists were removed from Hotel Galadari under the intimidation of Gota
(Lanka-e-News- 09.June.2014, 9.30PM) The Rajapaksa administration has become so bestial and brutal that a group of media reporters has been intimidated and threatened for conducting a workshop and chased out from the Galadari Hotel they were staying at midnight under the instruction of Criminal defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

This workshop was conducted by five senior journalists in order to train the new journalists from North East of the country. The reason for that is although there were experienced journalists in the North East before the war there were no train journalists available at present. Many journalists have left the country due to fear and some has died during the war. 

Many journalists have left their jobs due to threats and have doing other jobs. As a result training independent journalists from these areas is an important factor. 

Due to these 14 new reporters has been selected from the North and East and planned to arrange a workshop at a hotel in Girithale named 'Deer Park' on last 23rd May. While this has been arranged the Eastern commanding officer of the Sri Lanka Army Lal Perera has called the Girithale hotel management and told there was a group coming to protest over this and to remove the reporters from the hotel. Though the owner of the Girithale Deer Park hotel was Minister Siripala Gamlath he was compelled to remove the paid guests amid intimidation to hotel staffs. Later the Military spokesperson denied that the Eastern commander threatened the hotel staff. 

Later another workshop was organized in Negombo Gold Sands Hotel from 6th to 8th. When the workshop started on the 6th on the 7th there was a group which has come to the hotel with play cards and banners and has protested from outside the hotel. The amusing thing what happened was before the protesters arrive, the senior police officers has come to the hotel and told that due to the workshop there is a hindrance for peace. From this it was confirmed that the protest carried out was known to the police before. Despite giving police protection to the workshop and journalists which was organized by getting prior permission from the police, the police took the side of the protestors and told the reporters to cancel the workshop and leave the hotel premises. 

Amid immense difficulties and since many journalists has come from far distance the group could not find shelter or go home due to lack of transportation as it was late. They decided to come to Colombo and stay the night at Hotel Galadari anticipating there will not be any obstacles. As the group has become so tired travelling all the way the group has booked seven rooms at Hotel Galadari to spend the night and to leave to their homes the following day. Having got to know this the criminal defense secretary has threatened the Galadari Hotel management for hosting these journalists and told to remove all journalists from the hotel. The hotel management has told the journalists that they are unable to give protection to them. It is none other than the criminal defense secretary Gota who caused to lose the security of Colombo high security zone.

The senior journalists who faced this bestial act were the chairman and the editor of the Sri Lanka Professional Journalist Association Lasantha Ruhunage, Jayasiri Jayasekara of the free Media Movement and the editor of Herald, Senior Journalist Shan Wijethunga of the Transparency International and another 14 new journalists. Though an attack was expected against the group of these journalists by the goons of ugly Gota fortunately nothing as such happened. 

In an earlier occasion the Asia desk office in charge of International Federation of Journalists and her assistant kept a workshop at Hotel Renuka was arrested and sent back from the country by the same Rajapaksa apes.

Threat and intimidation forces end to Sri Lankan journalist training

10/06/2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins Sri Lankan affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM) in condemning the role of security forces in the cancellation of a yet another workshop for journalists’ in Gampaha, Sri Lanka, on June 7.

According to reports, the three-day workshop for Tamil-language media in North-Eastern Sri Lanka was cancelled after a group of miscreants warned to disrupt it. The workshop theme was investigative reporting arising from recommendations from the Reconciliation Commission.

The FMM has advised that instead of ensuring the journalists rights to association and assembly, the police advised the organizer Transparency International Sri Lanka to leave the venue and hotel. The participants were moved to the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, for safety but the management of the five-star hotel asked them to leave the hotel at midnight after receiving threats.

According to the FMM, this is not the first reports of intimidation to stop Tamil journalism training programs in Sri Lanka. The same media workshop was also abandoned due to intimidation by the military earlier in May in Giritale, the Polnnaruwa district of North Central Province. In January this year, another two-day training for Tamil journalists organized by the Search for Common Ground in the same district was abandoned after a group of Buddhist monks disrupted proceedings.

The FMM said: “All these developments show that suppression of independent media in Sri Lanka is a well planned strategy. The Government has failed to carry out any independent investigation on continuing violations of freedom of expression rights in the country.”

“The FMM calls on the government to initiate a credible investigation on this blatant violation of rights of the journalists and to bring the culprits to book. The FMM also calls on all democratic forces to come forward to safeguard basic freedoms of the people of Sri Lanka, including the freedom of expression.”

The IFJ said: “This pattern of threat and intimidation is designed to silence the media and ultimately block the public’s right to know. The lack of due investigation in this string of incidents is the reason Sri Lanka remains high on the world’s watch list for impunity. Those incidents have deteriorated the freedom of expression and weakened democratic governance, thus we urge the Sri Lankan government to immediately act to stop such activities and allow media-related training for the development of the independent media.” 

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950 

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries 

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

Find the IFJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFJAsiaPacific 

Transparency International Media workshop threatened for the 3rd time - FMM

Tuesday, 10 June 2014 

The Free Media Movement (FMM) condemns without any reservations the protest and threatening behavior of the protesters against the journalist's workshop held at Gold Sands Hotel, Negombo, Gampaha District on 7th June 2014. The protesters, who enjoyed the protection of the Police, had been transported to the Negombo to disrupt the workshop according to eye witnesses. The FMM states without any hesitation that this so-called protest was state sponsored. It was a part and parcel of the on going suppression of independent journalism in Sri Lanka.

The three day training workshop on ‘the Investigative reporting on the enforcement of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)’ had been organized for the North- Eastern Tamil medium journalists by the Transparency International Sri Lanka branch. The workshop started on 6th June and was scheduled to continue till the 8th June.

Around 4 PM the protesters had entered the hotel premises and using a megaphone started to threaten the journalists and trainers as terrorist supporters. The Police, whose duty is to protect citizens rights to association and assembly, took the side of the unruly protesters and advised the organizers and journalists to leave the hotel as soon as possible. The Police promised to provide a safe passage. That was the only guarantee police could provide, organizers were told. As the darkness descends the participants and trainers had to leave Negambo for a safer area.

The Transparency International Sri Lanka branch made arrangements for the workshop participants to stay the night at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, some 12 KM away form the workshop venue. But within hours the Galadari Hotel management received threats not to provide accommodations to the Tamil journalist participants of the workshop. In the middle of the night the Hotel Management forced them to leave the premises, on the ground that they could be a security threat!

It is crystal clear that who ever behind the disruption of the media training workshop must be so powerful so that he could order a leading Colombo Hotel to throw out group of journalists in the middle of the night. Only a person who is well placed within the regime with an unquestionable authority could force a leading hotel to do such an illegal and dastardly act.

As stated by the FMM statement dated 28th May 2014 same media workshop had to abandon due to intimidation by the military. The workshop had been scheduled to commence on 23rd May 2014 at the Dear Park Hotel, Girithale Polonnaruwa. Now Deputy Minster Siripala Gamlath, the owner of the hotel has told the Lanka Herald website that it was the Brigadier Ruwan Wanigauriya, the military commander of the Eastern province who pressurised them to stop the workshop.

This is another example of militarization of civilian affairs and total impunity enjoyed by the security forces in Sri Lanka today.

All these developments show that suppression of independent media in Sri Lanka is a well planned strategy and instead of the rule of law it is rule of the jungle that prevails in Sri Lanka. Again and again the Government has failed to carry out any independent investigation on continuing violations of freedom of expression rights in the country.

Once again the FMM calls on the government to initiate a credible investigation on this blatant violation of rights of the journalists and to bring the culprits to book. At the same time the FMM calls on all democratic forces in the country to come forward to safeguard basic freedoms of the people of Sri Lanka, including the freedom of expression rights.

Hakeem slams ex-military Governors

By admin on June 8, 2014

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader and Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem today slammed the appointment of military Governors to the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Speaking at an event in Yatinuwara in the Kandy District today, Hakeem said he fails to understand why retired military officers have been appointed as Governors to the North and East while in the South the Governors are civil officials.

“What I feel is happening is that while on one hand we allow the minorities to enjoy their powers in the provinces on the other hand we are taking that away,” he said.

Hakeem noted that having former military officers as Governors in the North and East has led to clashes with the respective Chief Ministers while in the South there is no such issue.

The Northern Province Governor is Major General (Retd) G.A. Chandrasiri while the Eastern Province Governor is Rear Admiral (Retd.) Mohan Wijewickrama.

Hakeem, meanwhile also noted that he will express his views from within the Cabinet if and when he has an issue instead of boycotting Cabinet proceedings.

“I say what I must say. I was the first to object to moves to reduce the powers in the 13th Amendment to the constitution,” he said.

Hakeem seemed to be hinting at reports that Minister Wimal Weerawansa had boycotted Cabinet proceedings over a dispute with the Government. (Colombo Gazette)

UDA’s Army opposes police!

 Tuesday, 10 June 2014 

Many retired officers of the Army, now serving at the Urban Development Authority, are up in arms against the appointment of senior DIG Anura Senanayake as its chairman, reports say.

Since he fears the appointment will create unnecessary clashes in the UDA in the face of this opposition, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is in charge of the UDA, is postponing the appointing, say internal sources of the UDA.

In the forefront of retired Army officers who are opposed to DIG Senanayake is Brig. Saman Fernando, presently security manager at the UDA.

The reason for their enmity is that DIG Senanayake is investigating complaints that Brig. Fernando is extorting money from businessmen by using the name of the defence secretary. Addicted to casinos, Brig. Fernando obtains money from businessmen every day, at Rs. 30,000 each.

Since he prefers members of the Army than the police, the defence secretary is thinking twice about appointing Senanayake as the UDA chairman. As a solution, he is considering appointing Senanayake as the governor of the northern province, but the senior DIG is not agreeable to that suggestion. On the instructions of the defence secretary, DIG Senanayake was in South Korea recently, following a crash course on urban development planning.

INDIA: Where even a judge is not safe

June 10, 2014

The rape of a judge in her residence, located in a high-security area in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, speaks volumes about both the epidemic of sexual violence and the respect for law in India. Such an incident cannot occur in a jurisdiction where a citizen is convinced that the law will play its role in preventing and punishing crime. India is not such a jurisdiction.

Who in India is safe when even judges are not spared? The ceaseless stream of news reports about incidents of sexual violence inflicted on women and children across the country, ever since the Delhi gang rape case in December 2012, has failed to generate a national debate about India's failed criminal justice apparatus, forget about the critical mass needed for a transformation.

That such things happen across India has been the best response Indian political leadership has been able to muster so far, amidst routine statements of the 'boys will be boys' variety delivered by regional politicians. And, that such statements are irresponsible is the only hackneyed response elicited from the international community, including the Secretary General of the United Nations.

At the core of the problem is not the prevailing culture of gender violence, something India shares with other countries in Asia. What is lacking in India is the ability of its criminal justice apparatus to deal with crime. The current state of crime control in India is not the sole fault of the country's law enforcement agencies. For, in addition to law enforcement, the responsibility lies with policy makers of the country and the judiciary. The state of the country makes it obvious that India's legal setup has serious problems.

The argument that the country has good laws but poor enforcement is a defensive position; legislators and academics alike often toe this line. The argument lacks merit. Forget about the litany of colonial laws in force promulgated to brutalize the population, or any of the ones shoddily drafted in the post-colony; the argument is poor for a simpler reason.

No law can be a good law if it is unable to be enforced.

When crimes of a dehumanizing nature are committed repeatedly, and no law enforcement officer or agency is held responsible and accountable for the recurrence of the crime, it exposes the fallacy in the argument that laws in India are good and the problem lies with enforcement. If a law enforcement officer does not fear accountability and hence fails or, as it often happens, refuses to intervene to prevent crime, the finger points to the Indian state, which allows a culture of irresponsibility among law enforcement officers.

A law enforcement agency that uses torture as standard operating procedure in investigations cannot be expected to apply a different set of standards for other crimes. In fact, the law enforcement agencies in the country are not expected to prevent, investigate, and curb crime. Had it been so, the Indian state's policing policy would have been catered to improving the capacity of law enforcement agencies to deal with crimes and to make officers accountable, as may be expected in any responsible society today.

Fault lies with the judiciary as well. When courts take a decade to decide cases and judges are insensitive to the concerns of average litigants that approach them, the first casualty is the concept of justice. The accountability of the judiciary literally ends at the convenience of each individual judge. In a country where the judges in the Supreme Court seek and obtain impunity against crimes they have committed, the court reduces itself to a market place. And, in a market place, bargaining is the norm. So, in such a system, where those mandated to prosecute crime themselves engage in it, when a crime is tried the criminal usually has higher higher bargaining power.

In India, the average citizen has no faith in the criminal justice system, and would prefer not to touch or be touched by it. Those who can afford to do so employ private security infrastructure. Despite the realities, it is pertinent to serve a reminder: it is the responsibility of the Indian state to ensure that every person in the country enjoys equal protection to his or her life and property. Unless this becomes state policy, no one in India's jurisdiction is safe.

It's a new era in India's foreign policy as countries compete to woo Modi

By KANWAL SIBALPUBLISHED: 21:42 GMT, 9 June 2014 

In foreign policy, Prime Minister Modi has hit the ground running, taking unexpected initiatives. He reached out to our neighbours, taking the unprecedented step of inviting their leaders to his swearing-in ceremony. 

While invitations to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan carried only positive connotations, those to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Rajapakse carried mixed political implications.

It was felt that the plus points in extending invitations to Pakistan and Sri Lanka outweighed the negatives.

Engagement

In Pakistan's case the dilemma is whether we should engage it at the highest level without any ground-clearing move by Nawaz Sharif on terrorism, the Mumbai trial and trade.

The Pakistani premier has been, on the contrary, aggressive over Kashmir, invoking the UN resolutions and self-determination as a solution, seeking third party intervention, permitting tirades by Hafiz Saeed against India, maintaining the pitch on water issues and reneging on granting MFN status even under a modified nomenclature. 

In these circumstances, the move to invite him risked suggesting that, like the previous government, the new government too was willing to open the doors of a dialogue in the hope of creating a dynamic that would yield some satisfaction on the terrorism issue. In other words, practically delinking dialogue from terrorism, despite having taken a position to the contrary while in opposition.

In Sri Lanka's case, the whipped-up sentiments in Tamil Nadu against President Rajapakse for his triumphalist rather than reconciliatory policies on the tamilian issue have upset the overall balance of India's foreign policy towards Sri Lanka that requires that we adequately weigh the need to counter powerful adversarial external forces are at play there against our interests. 

Inviting President Rajapakse to New Delhi obviously risked provoking a strong reaction in Tamil Nadu, but the new government had to decide whether, like its predecessor, it would get cowed down by such regional opposition, or it would act in the greater interest of the country even when according importance to the sentiments of a section of our population. 

This dramatic outreach to the neighbours has elicited praise internally and externally, primarily focused on the invitation to the Pakistan president and its implication for the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue. 

Internally, those pro-dialogue lobbies that have espoused the previous government's placative policies towards Pakistan have naturally welcomed the surprise move by Modi.

Externally, India has always been counselled to have a dialogue with Pakistan irrespective of its conduct and its terrorist links, the argument being that these two South Asian nuclear armed neighbours with unresolved territorial conflicts risked sliding into a nuclear conflict unless they found a way to settle their differences for which a dialogue was an inescapable necessity. 

Such praise from within and without from predictable quarters should neither be surprising nor worth much attention.

Outreach

The new majority government in power in New Delhi, freed from debilitating coalition politics and attaching priority to economic development, has aroused external interest. 

The sentiment outside the country- as well as inside it - has been that the previous government lost its way, leading India into the quagmire of high fiscal deficits and tumbling growth, belying international expectations about its economic rise parallelling that of China.

If India can be steered back into a high growth trajectory with stronger leadership and improved governance, more economic opportunities will open up for our foreign partners. This would also draw renewed attention to India's geo-political importance which, though an accepted reality now, has receded from the foreground lately.

Reassurance

Modi is seen as the man of the moment. This would explain the telephone calls from world leaders to Modi and the invitations given and received. 

India is being courted, and Modi's choice of the countries he first visits or foreign leaders he first receives, is drawing external attention as an indication of his diplomatic priorities. 

On this broader front too, Modi is following an unanticipated script of his own. He is being generous to the US despite its reprehensible conduct in denying him a visa, by prioritising national interest over his individual feelings. 

He has not waited for the stigma of visa refusal to be erased by a US executive order removing his name from the State Department black-list. He is planning to meet President Obama in Washington in September – the first external visit to be announced – quickly relieving the Americans of fears that the visa issue could become a hurdle in engaging him.

In another remarkable gesture that the State Department would have noted for its political import, he has agreed to a book launch by an American think-tank at Race Course Road. 

China wants to complicate moves by Japan to strengthen strategic ties with India. Its decision to send its Foreign Minister to India after the swearing-in seems to have been motivated by this rivalry, apart from seeking to build on the personal contacts established by China with Modi when he was Chief Minister.

If the Chinese FM was allowed to be the first consequential foreign leader to meet Modi, it appears Japan may be the first foreign country – barring Bhutan – the latter may visit en route to the BRICS meeting in July in Brazil. The Bhutan visit underscores the importance Modi intends attaching to neighbours.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister is visiting Delhi on June 18. 

It would seem that Modi's immediate priority is to reassure all his important interlocutors, friends or adversaries, that they should have no misgivings about him and the direction of his policies, and that he seeks to engage with all power centres in a balanced manner. 

The writer is a former Foreign Secretary

DEW to quit PSC 

By Niranjala Ariyawansha-June 8, 2014
 
 
Communist Party Leader, D.E.W. Gunasekera, said he has decided not to participate in future proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), appointed by the government to find a solution to the ethnic problem, as there was nothing more to discuss among ministers.
 
However, he said he would participate only if the TNA and SLMC became involved in the discussions. Gunasekera also invited all Opposition political parties to participate in the discussions. They are duty bound to find a solution to this cancer, which has caused immense damage to this country during the last 30 years, he said.
Gunasekera also reiterated that the SLFP and UNP, even at this late stage, should make a genuine, concerted effort without any pre-conditions to find an acceptable solution to the national question.
 
Party leaders alone cannot do this. Discussions among themselves would not produce any results, he however, said. The minister emphasized that any solution to the ethnic problem has to come from the combined effort of the governing Party and the Opposition as evidenced by the experience of other countries which faced similar situations.
Gunasekera also told Ceylon Today, "We have a responsibility to discharge our duties in this regard in the name of all those who lost their lives in this destructive war. Other than the government side, no one else attends the PSC now. TNA, SLMC UNP and JVP should be parties to the discussions. We might then be able to attain at least 60-70% consensus. That will be a good start.
 
SLFP and the UNP always used the ethnic problem as a tool to win elections. This should at least stop now. We should not leave it for future generations."
JHU MP Athuraliye RatanaThera said he does not attend the PSC as he does not believe it can produce any result. He said, "PSC is only a time consuming affair. It is only a talk shop and no work gets done. A government, which has two thirds majority in Parliament, need not take more than three months to conclude the matters under reference. Government tells different stories to different Parties including to India and the Sri Lankan public. This is only a waste of time. The PSC should bring forth a good mix of ideas from all concerned Parties."

Henchmen of minister of Child Development and Women’s affairs abuse an underage girl: Minister undermines the incident

(Lanka-e-News- 09.June.2014, 11.30PM) A bosom pal of minister of Child Develoment and Women’s Affairs Minister Tissa Karaliyadda, has molested and abused a underage girl and got caught. Due to the pressure of the people in the area the latter has been taken into custody. It is reported to the Lanka e news though he has taken for a police inquiry and produced before the court due to the pressure exerted by the minister the abuse has been undermined.

According to the news reaching us all contracts in the Medawachchiya seat has been coordinated by him earning a commission and a profit for the minister. He is one Leslie Alexander Shakespeare by name and 43 years old. This underage girl who is an orphan has been living at her relative house. First he has abused the elder sister and now abused her younger sister who was an underage girl.

Despite police inaction following this incident got exposed and due to peoples agitation today the latter was asked to come to the Police and having a discussion.

Minister Karaliyadda is pressurizing the police to suppress this incident of abusing an underage girl who is a bosom pal of minister of Child Development and to produce him tomorrow to a tourist court in Medawachchiya by concocting other charges and to bail him out.