rule of law

In a letter addressed to the Chairperson and other members of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, former MP M.A. Sumantiran says that although the restricting movement is desirable and necessary at this time in our country in order to meet the challenge presented by COVID-19 such restrictions including curfew must be imposed legally […]

The arrest and detention of attorney at law Hejaaz Hisbullah purportedly in connection with investigations relating to the Easter Sunday bombings of April 21, 2019 has had an unexpected fall out with 216 attorneys at law writing to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) urging the BASL to refrain from intervening in the matter […]

Seven opposition party leaders have issued a joint statement assuring Responsible cooperation in Parliament in order to face the challenge of COVID-19 effectively. They will draw no salary and will not defeat or thwart the government’s legitimate actions during this critical time. The letter has been signed by Sajith Premadasa, Ranil Wickremasinghe, Champika Ranawaka, R. […]

Image: This Doctrine has very bad precedents.  In 1954 Pakistan, the Chief Justice at the time validated the extra constitutional use of emergency powers to dissolve a Constituent Assembly. The legality or the lack thereof of the ongoing curfew was briefly taken to a Court of Law this week during a bail application on behalf […]

Sri Lankan police officers patrol a Muslim neighborhood after the Easter Sunday bombings, Colombo, April 26, 2019.(Image courtesy of HRW/© 2019 AP Photo) (New York) – Sri Lankan authorities should uphold due process rights and ensure that recently detained Muslim figures have proper access to lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. The arrests, soon after the government […]

Image: Pro Rajapaksa parliament members attacking the speaker.(File photo courtesy of NYT) Arguing that under present circumstances, the course of action most consistent with the Constitution is to summon the dissolved Parliament, which can continue until the end of August 2020 the Centre for Policy Alternatives has requested the President to summon the Parliament that has […]

Image courtesy of slideplayer.com. Statement on the Arrest and Detention of Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah. We are writing with deep concern about aspects of the arrest and detention of attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah. According to media reports on the habeas corpus application filed by Mr. Hizbullah’s father Naina Hizbullah, Mr. Hizbullah had received a phone call, purportedly, […]

Sri Lanka: ICJ raises concerns about the arbitrary arrest and detention of lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah; calls for repeal and replacement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. APRIL 21, 2020. The ICJ called upon the Sri Lankan authorities to respect human rights in the conduct of their investigation of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, including ensuring […]

Testing has become the main challenge for Sri Lanka. The government has consciously erected several roadblocks to minimise testing and obfuscate the spread of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka. Despite significant domestic testing capacity, a quota of no more than 212 patients a day are being tested for Covid-19, as at 11th April 2019. With the […]

According to the Habeas Corpus Applications  filed on behalf of lawyer Hejaz Hisbullah the CID personal has come to his house in the guise of officials of the Ministry of Health. The application says that Hejaz Hisbullah had received a call at around 4.00 pm purportedly from a person identifying himself as from the Ministry […]

Parliamentary Election 2020 and date of summoning new Parliament. I refer to the Daily Mirror article, of today’s date, on the date for summoning the new Parliament after elections, and The Island’s two pieces yesterday on the same topic. I am in “Lockdown” in Jaffna and write on my own as a Member of the Election Commission in […]

Image courtesy of Amnesty International. On March 26, 2020, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa granted a presidential pardon and released convicted death row prisoner and mass murderer, former Army Staff Sergeant R. M. Sunil Rathnayake. While the country is on lockdown due to COVID-19, the President has seized this opportunity to deal a lethal blow to the […]

Image: Pro-Democracy protestors took to street daily against the constitutional coup staged by president Sirisena in October 2018. A short paper published by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) on key developments in the first 100 days of the present Government, as well as their implications for governance, the rule of law, reconciliation, human rights and […]

AG, COI clash over ex-Magistrate Thilina Gamage’s illegal elephant possession case AG claims all documents relating to case have been taken by COI Commission says documents were given by CID, says relevant documents will be handed back today Gamage filed case before Commission alleging political victimisation A senior Attorney General’s  Department official told members of […]

Literally, this picture is worth more than a thousand words. It shows former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and current Defense Secretary General Kamal Gunarathne having a friendly chat during the Ananda Nalanda big match last weekend. Wasantha Karannagoda is a suspect of the well-known case of abducting and killing 11 youth by the Sri Lankan […]

It is evident that the Podu Peramuna Government led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the new President, wants desperately to withdraw the cases filed during the Yahapalana regime against corruption and criminal acts alleged to have committed during the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, in the absence of the support of the Judiciary, it appears clearly […]

In its statement to UN Human Rights Council on the High Commissioner’s Report,  Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka emphasises that the weakening of the relevant provisions of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in strengthening independent institutions will seriously hamper checks and balances and protection of people’s rights under the Rule of Law. Sri […]

NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS ISSUES DECISION IN CASE AGAINST GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA. San Francisco, March 2, 2020: Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s request to vacate the lower court’s ruling that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is entitled to common law foreign official immunity for acts committed while he was Secretary of Defense of Sri […]

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and its Executive Director, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu filed a Fundamental Rights application challenging some powers granted to the Commission of Inquiry to Investigate Allegations of Political Victimization During the Period Commencing 08th January 2015 and Ending 16th November 2019 (The CoI), appointed by Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 2157/44 of 9th January 2020. […]

Image from newswire.lk. Members of the Sri Lanka Corps Military Police (SLCMP) of the Army on the guidelines given by the acting Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva have now been deployed in most congested entry/exit points in the Greater Colombo area under a new assignment in order […]

Image: On 19th at a public meeting in Galaha, President Rakapaksa has said that ” Do not consider the independence given to judiciary as our weakness.” (Lankanesweb) When Sri Lanka’s President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly articulates that, ‘unnecessary judicial interventions are harmful to democracy’ (The Island, February 21st, 2020), one is intrigued. Pray, what would a […]

Image:A Sri Lankan policeman keeps watch at a demonstration in the capital, Colombo, on August 14, 2014.   © 2014 Getty Images  C/O HRW. Reprimanding several CID officials, Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake today repeatedly emphasized that the CID’s behavior in arresting and producing suspect Udayanga Weeratunga over the alleged MIG 27 deal was unusual and […]

Image: The 19th Amendment had nothing to do with the removal of an IGP. The escalating clash of words (hopefully, not arms) between the Attorney General (AG) and the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the failure to ‘immediately’ file charges against an interdicted High Court judge on the basis of allegedly attempting to […]

Image: SSP Shani Abeysekara. Former Director of the CID, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shani Abeysekara has lodged a complaint today (28) claiming that he had received death threats from someone over the phone. SSP Shani Abeysekara was suspended a few weeks ago for allegedly having a conversation with MP Ranjan Ramanayake over a court […]

Image: Maithripala Sirisena and his SLFP rump might get crushed in the internal clash over candidate selection. The government might be called two-faced, not in the literal sense of being insincere, but based on two different streams of actions that are flowing from it. Neither stream is insincere, but one is objectively at odds with […]

“If we lift the hideous rags of History, we find this: hierarchy versus equality and order versus liberty.” – Éric Vuillard (The Order Of The Day) The indications are clear, as are the implications. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected on a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist platform intends to rule as a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist president. For the first time in […]

Hand wringing by Government politicians over leaked tape recordings of phone conversations between prosecutors, judicial officers and a United National Party politician known more for his brawn than his brain, (this worthy’s cerebral power appears to be even less than commonly perceived), is hypocritical in the extreme. Historic undermining of the judicial institution Even as […]

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a high-powered Presidential Commissions of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate allegations of political victimization as well as interference and undue influence on the judiciary and police during the past regime. The Commission comprising retired Supreme Court Justice Upaly Abeyrathne (chairman), retired Appeal Court Justice Daya Chandrasiri Jayathilaka and retired IGP Chandra […]

A special Police team  conducted a search operation at UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayaka’s residence at Madiwela. They had obtained a warrant obtained from Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court. UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake has been arrested by the police over possession of a pistol without a valid license reports Daily Mirror. Ramanayaka  tweed  11,30 AM Sri Lanka time […]

MP Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa’s gazetted 22nd Amendment Bill (Private Member’s Bill) effectively seeks to: a) Allow the President to decide whom to appoint as CJ, Supreme & Appeal Ct judges, JSC members, Attorney General, Auditor General, IGP, Ombudsman & Secy General of P’ment; b) Require the President to merely ‘ascertain the views’ of the following, before […]