Saturday, August 5, 2017

This Trump real estate deal looks awfully like criminal tax fraud

Two tax lawyers break down the president’s sale of two condos to his son.

Speaking at his first news conference since winning the presidential election, Donald Trump defended his decision not to release his tax returns, saying the American people "don’t care at all." (The Washington Post)

By David Herzig and Bridget Crawford August 4 at 6:00 AM

President Trump clearly doesn’t want to release his income tax returns to the public. Members of the public and commentators have progressed through stages of outrage, speculation and acceptance that they’ll never see the goods, while others have made attempts to pry the documents free (such as proposed legislation in New York and other states that would require presidential candidates to release their returns). But Trump’s most pressing tax problem may come from somewhere else entirely: a pre-election transfer of property to a company controlled by his son that could run afoul of the IRS.

According to a recent story by ProPublica and the Real Deal, in April 2016, a limited liability company managed by Trump sold two condominium apartments to a limited liability company managed by Eric Trump. They were on the 13th and 14th floors of a 14-story, full-service, doorman building at 100 Central Park South in Manhattan. This is a prime Midtown neighborhood, yet the sale price for each condo was just $350,000. Although the condition and square footage of apartments 13G and 14G are not readily known, a popular real estate website shows that G-line apartments on both the fifth and eighth floors are one-bedroom, one-bath units of just over 500 square feet. Two years before the Trump transaction, apartment 5G sold for $690,000. Maybe the two units in question were in terrible shape, but two months before the sale to Eric Trump’s LLC, they were advertised for $790,000 (on the 13th floor) and $800,000 (on the 14th floor), according to ProPublica.

[Sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted. Probably.]

If a sale between a parent and child is for fair market value, it does not trigger a gift tax. But if a parent sells two expensive condominiums to his son at a highly discounted price, for example, then the parent makes a taxable gift in part. In that case, the seller must pay a gift tax of up to 40 percent. (In this case, that might have run the president somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000.)
Each taxpayer has a $5.49 million lifetime exemption (a married couple has a combined $10.98 million exemption), meaning you can give away that much money without incurring the tax. To claim that a transaction is covered by the exemption, though, you must file a gift tax return. Well-advised wealthy individuals typically fully use their $5.49 million exemption by making gifts to family members as soon as they have the assets to do so.

So if Donald Trump sold the apartments to his son’s company for less than fair market value, he needed to file a gift tax return, even if he wanted to claim that the sale was not taxable because of the exemption. The government wants to know what gifts people make, because gifts are taken into account when determining the value of a person’s taxable estate at death. If Trump had already used his exemption, he would owe gift tax on the difference between the fair market value of the apartments and the amount paid by Eric Trump.

[Trump or Congress can still block Robert Mueller. I know. I wrote the rules.]

It’s possible the president filed the right paperwork. But without a full release of his tax returns, the available evidence suggests he hasn’t. According to New York City property records, Trump paid $13,000 in state and local transfer taxes for these two sales. That is the correct amount for a sale between strangers. But if he paid state and local transfer taxes, that means he didn’t treat the transfers as gifts. And on the real estate forms filed in New York, Trump didn’t check any of the boxes indicating that these were sales between relatives or sales of less than the entire property. It would seem, then, that he treated the transactions as if they were sales for fair market value to a stranger.

Since Trump did not cast the transactions as gifts for state and local tax purposes, it is almost certain that he did not do so for federal gift tax purposes, either. In our combined 40 years of experience as tax lawyers, we are unaware of a situation in which a taxpayer would report a transaction as a fair market value between strangers on the state level (and thus incur real estate taxes) but treat it as a gift at the federal level (and thus incur an additional tax). It’s fair to infer that Trump didn’t follow the rules.

[Sorry, Donald Trump Jr. is not a traitor.]

Willful failure to file a tax return, including a gift tax return, is a misdemeanor , punishable by a $25,000 fine, imprisonment of up to one year or both. Fraudulent failure to file — meaning an overt act of evasion — may elevate willful failure to a felony . That carries a fine of up to $100,000, imprisonment of up to five years or both, along with the costs of prosecution. According to internal guidance provided by the IRS to its agents, factors indicating potential fraud include repeated contacts by the IRS, failure to cooperate with IRS agents or employees, knowledge of the filing requirements, offering implausible or inconsistent explanations, substantial tax liability, and refusal or inability to explain failure to file.

Presidential income tax returns are subject to mandatory audit . The IRS can decide whether Trump’s transfers were truly gifts. If they were, which seems likely, Trump’s failure to file a gift tax return opens him up to penalties and fines, or even criminal charges. Perhaps such a charge wouldn’t go anywhere, since the president must consent to being indicted by a federal prosecutor. But tax law would permit them.

[I was an FBI agent. Trump’s lack of concern about Russian hacking shocks me.]

Twitter: @professortax
@ProfBCrawford

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Indian Foreign Minister’s Dignified Response to China’s War Cry

The question that arises is that no country in Asia has raised any war cry against China and only China has been doing this. Where are China’s enemies ?

by N.S.Venkataraman-Aug 5, 2017

( August 5, 2017, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the last few weeks, China has been blowing hot and cold over the India-China stand off at the tri junction Doklam (Bhutan)

On several occasions, the spokesman of China has warned India directly or indirectly that China would not hesitate to deploy it’s army and use force to settle the Doklam row. On most occasions, the statement from China amount to war cry and gives an impression as if China is itching for a war with India.

In spite of highly provocative statement from China , the government of India has handled the issue with firmness and dignity ,that seem to have further upset China , since India is not responding with the similar war cry.

Indian Foreign Minster Ms. Sushma Swaraj has declared in the Indian parliament that war cannot be a solution for any problem and she firmly ruled out war as an option both for India and China. She further declared that India was negotiating with China not only on the Doklam row but on the entire bilateral issues between India and China.

When several parliamentarians in India expressed concern and raised questions on the stand off with China, Indian foreign Minister clearly said that dialogue with China was the way out. She also called for patience and restraint in dealing with the war like situation that China has created and urged the Indian parliamentarians to have restraint in making their observations. Finally, she said clearly that India would keep patience to resolve the issue with China.

One is not sure as to whether China, in it’s present mood and with it’s internal political compulsions, will care to acknowledge and reciprocate the positive and healthy observations of the Indian foreign Minister.

One only hopes that China would not come to the conclusion that soft stand of the Indian foreign Minister was due to India’s fear of military power of China and India has become panicky and is not confident of conducting any military confrontation with China. China should understand that war would never solve any problem and while at the end of the war , one may look like being victorious, it never would be so on actual terms. This aspect was subtly pointed out to China by the Indian foreign Minister when she said that “even after a war, a solution is arrived at in the long run only through dialogue”.

Today, no country in Asia has any doubt that China has definite expansionist plans and it wants to browbeat other Asian countries by it’s economic or military strength or by using both.

Such design and approach of China has become very clear and apparent in China’s approach with regard to South China Sea, East China Sea, Scarborough Island and China’s claim of Arunachal Pradesh in India. There is real apprehension amongst Asian countries about the ultimate objectives of China’s foreign policy and how it would affect them in the short and long run. China’s forcible occupation of Tibet for over fifty years now clearly give an idea as to what extent China would go ahead to realize it’s objective of it’s expansionist policy.

The observers in Asia think that China has to be cautioned effectively, so that it would give up it’s aggressive stance in dealing with other Asian countries.

The concern of Asian countries is particularly heightened by the tough talk of Chinese President Xi Jinping that China would not allow anyone to “split it’s territory” and he lauded the People Liberation Army’s strong resolve to protect China’s sovereignty and defeat “ all invasions”.

The question that arises is that no country in Asia has raised any war cry against China and only China has been doing this. Where are China’s enemies ?

Obviously, China thinks that time has come for military confrontation with other neighbouring countries to establish it’s so called superiority.

While the Indian foreign Minister has spoken on the India China stand off with great sense of responsibility and statesmanship, it needs two hands to clap. It remains to be seen as to how China would react to the hand of friendship extended by the Indian foreign Minister, in spite of the tense border situation between India and China at present.

Venkaiah Naidu elected vice president in another boost for Modi

Venkaiah Naidu (L) and Narendra Modi attend a party meeting in New Delhi May 18, 2009.]]]

AUGUST 5, 2011

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's ruling party candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu was elected vice president in a parliamentary vote on Saturday, enabling the party to boost its political standing in his southern home region where it lacks a broad support base.

Naidu, 68, from Andhra Pradesh and a former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), defeated opposition nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, by a wide margin.

The position of vice president, like that of president, is largely ceremonial under India's constitution, in which the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues wield executive power.

However, the vice president is also the speaker of the Rajya Sabha, or the upper house of parliament, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling coalition lacks a majority and has faced problems in passing legislation.

Naidu's victory in the vote by both houses was a foregone conclusion because of the BJP's commanding majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha, which more than makes up for its weakness in the upper house.

Recently elected President Ram Nath Kovind and Naidu were both associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or National Volunteer Corps, the ideological fountainhead of Hindu groups, early in their political careers.

Kovind, backed by the ruling Hindu nationalist right, easily won India's presidential election last month, tightening its hold on positions of power.

Reporting by Malini Menon; editing by Douglas Busvine and Jason Neely

Extreme weather deaths in Europe 'could increase 50-fold by next century'

If no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or protect citizens, weather disasters could kill 152,000 a year between 2071 and 2100, says study

Wildfires in Portugal killed 64 people in June; the recent study explores how often and where similar weather-related disasters are likely to occur in the coming years. Photograph: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Nicola Davis-Friday 4 August 2017

Deaths from weather disasters could increase 50-fold in Europe by the start of the next century if no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or protect citizens, researchers have warned.

A new study estimates a toll of 152,000 deaths a year between 2071 and 2100 as a direct result of hazards relating to extreme weather, with those living in southern Europe likely to be the hardest hit.

“Governments and policies should be focused more on designing suitable adaptation measures,” said Giovanni Forzieri, a co-author of the study from the European Commission Joint Research Centre in Italy. “If no adaptation measures [are] taken, these estimates are really alarming.”

Writing in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, Forzieri and colleagues describe how they used state-of-the art predictions to explore how often and where seven types of weather disasters – including heatwaves, wildfires and floods – are likely to occur across Europe in the coming years if no action on global warming is taken.

The analysis also used large datasets from disasters in recent years to calculate a fixed value of human vulnerability for different weather events, and incorporated projections on how populations were likely to change.

Looking at the impact on Europeans over 30-year intervals, the team found that two in three people in Europe could be affected by weather-related disasters annually by the period 2071-2100 – an estimated 351 million people. By contrast, between 1981 and 2010, 25 million people were exposed – just 5% of Europe’s population.

What’s more, the number of deaths is expected to increase 50-fold by 2100, reaching an estimated 152,000 deaths a year – up from 3,000 a year between 1981 and 2010. Those living in southern Europe, including Italy, Spain and the south of France, are predicted to be the hardest hit with about a 64-fold increase in deaths.

This rise, say researchers, is largely down to heatwaves, with the phenomenon expected to account for 99% of the additional deaths.

Overall, more than 90% of the increased risk to Europeans, the authors say, is down to an increase in the frequency and severity of weather events as a result of climate change. The remaining 10% is a result of population growth and migration; for example, increased numbers living in coastal regions likely to flood – a problem particularly in Slovenia, Ireland and Norway.

“Population change will play only a marginal role compared to climate change [in increasing risk],” said Forzieri, adding that historically the reverse was true.

But, Forzieri notes, the analysis does not take into account indirect effects on public health, warning that problems ranging from cardiovascular disease to mental health disorders could become more prevalent, while pressures on health services and other resources could also take their toll.

Weather-related disasters, the authors add, are also likely to disproportionately affect the sick, poor and elderly – a factor they say is a concern given the ageing population across Europe.

Indeed, Forzieri says, the reality could be even more dire. “Our scenario is not the worst one we could choose – it is the medium scenario of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

The authors stress that the research highlights the importance of the Paris climate agreement, adding that improved city planning and public awareness are crucial.

But David Alexander, professor of risk and disaster reduction at University College, London, said the study took too simplistic a view.

“I don’t think we are in any way capable of predicting what death tolls as a result of weather-related hazards will be by the end of the century, because there are so many other factors, which in this study are not taken into account, that will have a direct bearing on the figures,” he said.

In particular, Alexander pointed out the study assumed a straightforward relationship between the number of people exposed to a disaster and the number of deaths, to calculate vulnerability.

“Whether you are in the way or not doesn’t actually determine whether [an event] kills you or not,” said Alexander. “[Vulnerability] is dependant on a whole mass of things.”

Paul Wilkinson, professor of environmental epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described the study as a “thought experiment” but welcomed the research.

“While the analysis only considered extreme events, and assumed no reduction in human vulnerability over time from adaptation, it is yet another reminder of the exposures to extreme weather and possible human impacts that might occur if emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated,” he said.

Pain Management

by Victor Cherubim-Aug 5, 2017

( August 5, 2017, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Even though the experience of pain varies from one person to another, there are different types of pain. It is one of the body’s most important communication tools. Pain is one way the body tells you something is wrong and needs attention.

Carlo Rovelli said:”Reality is not what it seems”. “Pain stems from an injury to the body’s tissue. The injury can be to bone, soft tissue or organs. The injury to body tissue can come from disease, or it can come from a physical injury such as a cut or a broken bone”. Then there are different types of pain. There is nerve pain, muscle pain, Then there is acute pain and chronic pain.

The binding power of medicine

We visit our Doctor and expect we get cured immediately. There was a time that doctors were like Gods, or thought they were Gods. Medicine half a century ago was neither costly or for that matter considered effective. Since then science has identified over 13,600 different ways our bodies can fail. For each one, if not for most, scientific platforms are being discovered with remedies that can reduce suffering, extend lives and stop the spread of disease.

“We are doctors, not police and we are present in the Mediterranean to save lives”. This was the message given to reporters by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF International), Doctors without Borders, an independent, medical, humanitarian organisation, an NGO fighting to rescue “illegal” migrants at sea.

Doctors are becoming increasing aware of their different roles today. Outside Libyan waters doctors are deployed in military vessels to disrupt the smugglers business. They are aware of trafficking in Nigerian girls and women. The job of these doctors is to separate them from their traffickers before they disappear in the world of abuse.

A case in point, one among a few, a very few (not known), of the Search and Rescue vessels, “Vos Prudence” Italian Navy’s Maritime Rescue operations which is fighting a losing battle to contain the 93,417 migrants from all over the world arriving in Italian shores in 2016,bound for “somewhere” to live and work in Europe.

The volume and complexity of world migration, together with the spread of disease has grown exponentially beyond our capacity as individuals or as nations. Our fear is that this knowledge has grown beyond our capacity to assimilate.

The route of administration – making a pill into a patch

As with Traditional Medication delivery methods which was in use in administration over time, such as pills, capsules, liquids, powders, more recently intravenous injection, have now been supplemented. Some of them we are told are often inefficient and can lead to undesirable side effects.

From a pharmaceutical point of view, the pill is the easier form of medication for pain. It offers different ways of control medication –both the dose and the time.

Among the newer methodologies for the administration of medicines to our bodies is the use of transdermal approaches including gels and patches, for the treatment of many of the common ailments, particularly to control acute pain. It is also a common way for smokers to control their nicotine dose. Drugs can affect the liver, a patch avoid it.

Making a pill into a patch is fairly a clever way of creating new patients for pharmaceutical drug platforms, a method of “re-purposing”. Besides, the diffusion of the drug through the patch to your skin into your blood stream is different from an intravenous (IV) injection, which is an instantaneous dose.

Transdermal patches will give a local effect without affecting the whole body unnecessarily. It is a method of delivering medication through the skin, in a non invasive way. A Patch is adhered to a patient’s skin .The patch contains the medication prescribed to the patient. The medication is said to permeate the skin in a controlled fashion. This way attains more steady levels of the drug in the body.

Patches are worn, stuck on to the outer layer of the skin of the necessary body needing attention. It can be kept on for as little as 8 hours to as long as a week, depending on the therapeutic indication. The adhesive on one side of the medicated patch are comfortable without a bandage aid.

As the skin layers absorb the medication via the blood vessels into the blood stream. The blood carries the medication through the circulatory system and through a patient’s body. Pharmacists state that it “bypasses the liver’s metabolic activity” as well as the acidic environment in the gastro-intestinal tract.”

The downside

Patches can cause skin irritation. Alcohol wiped areas absorb the patch differently than an area that is not cleaned in most cases. The Patch or Oral medication cannot be logically transferred from one to the other and expect the same result say pharmacists.
The disadvantage is that you need to change the placement of the patch regularly, perhaps, like what a diabetic would do, to alter the locations of the injections, so that the area does not build up a resistance to medication.

The downside of patches that I experienced when I was prescribed patches by my GP for a severe elbow pain was that it took many hours for the meds to track in and many more hours to get the medication out of the system, when the patch was removed. However, it was good after all in relieving my acute pain.

I hope I am not suggesting that patch meds are the “be-all” for all type of pain.

First hints Parkinson's can be stopped

By James Gallagher-4 August 2017

It may be possible to stop the progression of Parkinson's disease with a drug normally used in type 2 diabetes, a clinical trial suggests.

Current drugs help manage the symptoms, but do not prevent brain cells dying.

The trial on 62 patients, published in the Lancet, hints the medicine halted the progression of the disease.

The University College London (UCL) team is "excited", but it urges caution as any long-term benefit is uncertain and the drug needs more testing.

"There's absolutely no doubt the most important unmet need in Parkinson's is a drug to slow down disease progression, it's unarguable," Prof Tom Foltynie, one of the researchers, told the BBC.

In Parkinson's, the brain is progressively damaged and the cells that produce the hormone dopamine are lost.

It leads to a tremor, difficulty moving and eventually memory problems.

Therapies help manage symptoms by boosting dopamine levels, but the death of the brain continues and the disease gets worse.

No drug stops that happening.

'First'

In the trial, half of patients were given the diabetes drug exenatide and the rest were given a placebo (dummy treatment). All the patients stayed on their usual medication.

As expected, those on just their usual medication declined over 48 weeks of treatment. But those given exenatide were stable.

And three months after the experimental treatment stopped, those who had been taking exenatide were still better off.

Prof Foltynie told the BBC News website: "This is the first clinical trial in actual patients with Parkinson's where there has been anything like this size of effect.

"It gives us confidence exenatide is not just masking symptoms, it's doing something to the underlying disease.

"We have to be excited and encouraged, but also cautious as we need to replicate these findings."

Early days

They also need to trial the drug for much longer periods of time.

An effective drug would need to hold back the disease for years in order to make a significant difference to patients.

Parkinson's progresses slowly and the difference in this 60-week trial was definitely there, but was "trivial" in terms of the impact on day-to-day life, say the researchers.

The drug helps control blood sugar levels in diabetes by acting on a hormone sensor called GLP-1.

Those sensors are found in brain cells too. It is thought the drug makes those cells work more efficiently or helps them to survive.

It is why the drug is being tested in other neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's.

David Dexter, the deputy director of research at Parkinson's UK, said: "The findings offer hope that drugs like exenatide can slow the course of Parkinson's - something no current treatment can do.

"Because Parkinson's can progress quite gradually, this study was probably too small and short to tell us whether exenatide can halt the progression of the condition, but it's certainly encouraging and warrants further investigation."

Dr Brian Fiske, from the The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, said: "The results from the exenatide studies justify continued testing, but clinicians and patients are urged not to add exenatide to their regimens until more is known about their safety and impact on Parkinson's."

Friday, August 4, 2017

11 years no justice for massacred ACF aid workers

Sri Lanka's forces accused of massacring aid workers

04 Aug 2017

On August 4th 2006, the Sri Lankan military lined up and summarily executed 17 aid workers with the French NGO Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in Muttur. The aid workers were mostly Tamil. Eleven years on, no one has been held to account for this crime.

Condemning the massacre as a war crime, ACF said in 2007:

“The Muttur slaughter can't be considered only as a "collateral damage" during the Muttur battle: our team has been specifically and deliberately targeted, their death has been organised execution style with bullets shot in their head. Everything was consciously and brutally planned: the victims were kneeling, unarmed and defenceless. The culprits of this massacre are the ones who were carrying the arms. We can assert that this massacre is a war crime in violation of the Geneva Conventions."

In 2013 ACF reiterated its call for justice, stating that only an international inquiry would ensure it.

“ACF has closely followed the domestic investigation only to become convinced that the Sri Lankan justice system is incapable of investigating the case.”
“ACF has also collected information which reveals that the 17 humanitarian aid workers were likely assassinated by members of Sri Lankan security forces and the criminals must have been covered up by Sri Lankan top authorities," the organisation said in December 2013.

“ACF believes that only an independent international investigation can effectively lead to prosecution of the killers.”

Marking the ten anniversary of the massacre last year, Human Rights Watch reiterated the call for justice and said the massacre underscored the need for an international role in any accountability mechanism by Sri Lanka as the only means to ensuring justice.
“The failure to provide justice for the ACF massacre is Exhibit A in the breakdown of accountability for serious crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war,” HRW's legal and policy director, James Ross said.

“The mishandling of the ACF case shows why a war crimes court needs international involvement to shield it from political pressures.”

SI Sarath’s widow reinstated to Police

2017-08-04

The National Police Commission (NPC) yesterday approved reinstatement of the widow of the Policeman, who had died following a shootout in Jaffna, to the Police Service Secretary of the Commission Ariyadasa Kure said.

He said the decision was given by the NPC to appoint the widow K.G.T. Kumudini to the Police Service following a special order by the Commission.

Police Sergeant Sarath Premachandra (24330), attached to the security detail of Jaffna High Court Judge M. Ilanchezhiyan, died at the Jaffna General Hospital on July 23 following shootout at Nallur, Jaffna.

Kumudini was in the Police service but resigned a few years on personal grounds.
Sergeant Premachandra (24330) was posthumously promoted to Sub Inspector (SI) rank.
Mr. Kure said the decision was taken at a meeting held yesterday at the Police Commission office and appointment would be made by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara soon.

“The appointment will be made after identifying a Police Station closer to the schools of her children and her residence,” Mr. Kure said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

Justice minister Dealdasa is the thorn in the side obstructing cases of frauds and corruption ! says Ajith Perera (Video)

(Lanka-e-news - 04.Aug.2017, 8.45 PM) Even after the Prime minister (P.M.) had insisted that a special court be established to hear the countless number of criminal cases pertaining to the massive frauds and corruption during the Rajapakse nefarious corrupt decade with a view to expedite the hearings , it is minister of justice Wijedasa Rajapakse who is resisting and obstructing that , said deputy minister of power and energy Ajith P. Perera openly and with concern .

The deputy minister exposed this at a television media discussion , and repeated that today at a conference held at the Public library .

The FCID has concluded investigations into 88 cases of frauds and corruption and those files have been sent to the Attorney General’s (AG) department, yet only 15 cases have been filed , the deputy minister bemoaned. The issue is not at the police department but at the AG’s department and the courts, he pointed out.

These cases can be heard at a stretch and concluded , besides new courts for that are not necessary because the methodologies already existent in our country can be utilized for that. Three judges of the high court can conduct a trial at bar and finish cases by hearing at a stretch , he pinpointed.

Moreover in such instances , because the appeal can be made only to the supreme court (SC) , the cases can be heard expeditiously and punishment can be meted out . Though such a request has been made from within the government and the party , it is Wijedasa Rajapakse the minister of justice in charge of this who is opposing it, Ajit Perera revealed.

The P.M. instructed Wijedasa to make arrangements to evolve a suitable method to finish the cases swiftly , but the latter despite being the minister in charge is not taking action in that direction , Ajith Perera charged.

It is well to recall , Wijedasa by now well known as a faceless, policy- less, unscrupulous scoundrel of a politician and a snake under the grass said in parliament that as long as he is the minister of justice he would not take culprit Gotabaya Rajapakse into custody . This tie coat ,turncoat ,cutthroat was dubbed ‘Dealdasa’ by the people on that account.

Hereunder is the video footage of the speech of Ajith Perera

---------------------------
by (2017-08-04 15:18:12)

SRI LANKA: The ‘Satana’ debate on delay of justice

August 4, 2017

This week there were a few public discussions on the issue of delayed justice. The ‘Satana’ Programme of Sirasa TV on 1st August 2017 was mainly focused on the issue of delay in justice.

On the other hand in another video broadcast on YouTube, a reputed lawyer Nagananda Kodithuwakku, raised series of serious questions of the actual independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka and on how the entire issue of corruption is associated with inability of the courts to deal with cases which are coming before them - due to the control exercised by the Executive and the Legislature.

At the debate in the ‘Satana’ Programme, answering a direct question posed to the Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ajith Perera, as to why some of the well-known cases of corruption pending in courts are not dealt with by a speedy process, the Deputy Minister answered that, the Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakse was not willing to do so. He went on to say, that he has raised this issue at relevant forums of the Government, and that this is a serious issue, he is concerned with.

He further said that some of the more prominent cases against the leading figures of the past regime could be heard before a trial-at-bar, in which case there was no possibility of postponements. He complained that the lawyers presently appearing in these cases asked for postponements for five or six months and this way these cases are being dragged on. According to him, it was the Minister of Justice who does not want to adopt a speedy method.

The questions were raised on the responsibility of the entire Cabinet for resolving the issue of delay of justice. The Deputy Minister, who said that both the President and the Prime Minister are concerned about the issue, however admitted that there is a serious problem. Other speakers pointed out to him that it is the will to take action on this matters, that is lacking. On other instances where the Government really wants to do certain things, these have been done irrespective of the objections of the relevant Ministers.

The very fact that the question of delay in justice being raised in a prominent public debate is a welcome change. It demonstrates that there is an acute dissatisfaction about delayed justice among the people in the country. It has become necessary for the politicians to respond to the issues despite of the fact that such responses still are weak and inadequate.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice has announced that steps are being taken to increase the number of High Court Judges from 75 to 85. While even such small change is to be appreciated, it must be said that increase of just ten members of the High Court is grossly inadequate.

In a previous article we have pointed out that if, the number of High Court Judges is doubled, delays could be significantly reduced. What is even more important is that the crime rate in Sri Lanka will go down very significantly. Of course, it is not only a matter of increasing the number of High Court judges but this would also require the increase of prosecutors and also criminal investigators.

Dealing with the problem of delay could be the single most radical step in Sri Lanka to resolve many of its problems such as the improvement of the security of the people and creation of an economic environment conducive to greater investment and developments.

The real issue is that there are some very fundamental reasons encouraging quite a significant section for the political leadership for not wanting such a change. It is this that needs to be probed and understood, if this most required change is to be achieved.

Lawyer Nagananda Kodithuwakku’s speech points to those who are opposed to the independence of the judiciary and against having a well-functioning judicial system. Those are the people, who are benefitting from extraordinary forms of corruption, that is possible in a country where the judicial system is ineffective; and others who oppose such a change are those who wish to abuse power and to benefit from such abuse. He referred to cases relating to the unwillingness of the Commission against Bribery and Corruption to investigate into allegations of engagement in corrupt practice among Members of Parliament who illegally sell the car permits given to them as MPs.

The Commission’s position earlier had been that since these cars have been distributed as Government policy, the Commission will not investigate into such matters. However, later after a fundamental rights application has been filed, the Commission has promised to investigate into this matter. It has been discovered later that no such investigation has been initiated. Now a case calling for the courts to take action against the commission for the contempt of court has been filed.

He also points out to a serious constitutional issue arising from President J R Jayawardena obtaining approval from the judiciary for a law permitting defeated candidates at an election to be eligible for appointment as Members of Parliament. Whereas, the actual Bill voted in the Parliament had no provision for such appointments. This critique amounts to a serious revelation of corruption involving the former President and the judges who have signed that document.

He points out the real objection to the independence of the judiciary comes from the idea that the judiciary must act under the Executive and the Legislature. This implies that the judiciary should not be an independent arm of the state having the power to take action even against the Executive and the Legislature when there are violations of law.

That fact that debates on this issue have surfaced is quite a positive sign. Much of the future of the country will depend on how these debates are pursued and how ways can be found to defeat the forces that obstruct the independence of the judiciary. The delay of justice is merely a byproduct of the suppression of the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka.

A 2/3 majority needed to put off PC elections

Musthapha

By Shamindra Ferdinando-August 3, 2017, 10:46 pm

Proposed constitutional amendment to put off scheduled Provincial Council polls in the Eastern, Sabaragamuwa and North Central provinces required a two-thirds approval in Parliament, provincial councils and local government minister Faiszer Musthapha said yesterday.

Minister Musthapha was responding to a query by The Island at an SLFP media briefing at the party office on T. B. Jayah Mawatha.

Minister Musthapha said the government would soon seek parliamentary approval for the amendment.

The UNP and the UPFA secured 106 and 95 seats, respectively at the last general election. However, out of the 95 seats obtained by the UPFA, about 52 members joined the Joint Opposition (JO).

Additional Commissioner, National Election Commission M.M. Mohamed yesterday told The Island that the Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and North Central would complete five year terms on Sept. 26, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, respectively. Mohamed said in accordance with the Provincial Council Election Act No 02 of 1988, nominations would be called on Oct. 2 or 3. Responding to a query, Mohamed said that Uva Provincial Council would be the last to complete its term on Oct. 8, 2019.

Minister Musthapha said the objective was meant to hold provincial council polls simultaneously.

He strongly defended government move in response to a spate of questions regarding bid to postpone provincial council polls in the wake of local government polls being delayed by over two years.

Asked whether the proposed amendment would specify the date the government intended to hold provincial council polls, Musthapha said the members of parliament could decide on that.

When The Island pointed out that an attempt was being made to put off provincial council polls against the backdrop of inordinate delay in conducting local government polls, the Minister said it would be the responsibility of the parliament to approve amendments to the Local Government Electoral (Amendment) Act No 12 of 2012. Claiming that he had done his job and couldn’t be held responsible in anyway, he said that party leaders should decide when to take it up.

The draft Amendment had already been handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella, he said.

Asked who represented the SLFP at the party leaders’ meeting, Minister Musthapha said Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.