Judicial system

High Excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse Honorable Speaker of the Parliament Chamal Rajapakse Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Lanka January 23, 2013 Concerning the removal of Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake Your Excellencies, The International Commission of Jurists and the undersigned senior judges and eminent jurists from around the world condemn the recent removal of Chief Justice […]

The systems of government in Asian countries may broadly be described under the following categories: Democratic – the government structure is based on the liberal democratic structure, and the bureaucracy functions with basic laws and rules that are in conformity with this structure; Militaristic – where the basic structure is based on military command and […]

(Hong Kong, January21, 2013) The Asian Human Rights Commission on Monday released a special dossier of recent cases of arrest, detention, torture and extortion carried out by Burma military and police personnel in Kachin State. The 36 cases from 2012 have all been conducted under the Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, a draconian colonial-era statute under […]

Speaking at a function held in Kolkata yesterday, the President of India, Honourable Pranab Mukherjee has asked the country’s judiciary to: “ensure that those who are in the wrong side of the law are dealt with swiftly and effectively to maintain social balance.” Iterating further, Mukherjee said: “though the Indian judiciary has preserved its pre-eminent […]

Senator the Hon Bob Carr Minister for Foreign Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade R.G. Casey Building John McEwen Crescent BARTON ACT 0221 Dear Minister, IMPEACHMENT OF SRI LANKAN CHIEF JUSTICE  I am writing to express the Law Council of Australia’s concern regarding reports of threats and intimidation against the legal profession and judiciary […]

(Hong Kong, January 18, 2013) Dozens of Hong Kong-based migrant workers, including Sri Lankans; migrant and human rights groups, protested today the execution of Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid, in Saudi Arabia. (Photos courtesy of APMM) Nafeek was executed on January 9 for the death of her employer’s child. The Government of the Kingdom […]

Romesh de Silva PC is one of the topmost lawyers in Sri Lanka, a former president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. He led the legal team which represented Dr. Shirani Bandaranayaka (CJ) in all forums during the impeachment saga. Jayampathi Wickremarathna PC, who was formerly the senior consultant in the Constitutional Affairs Ministry […]

The political frictions generating from the overreach of the Supreme Court will be far more damaging to Pakistan and its people than any gains which may be made during the investigations under the supervision of the Supreme Court The statement of the Asian Human Rights Commission on the orders of the Supreme Court for the arrest of […]

“Nothing’s ever gone too far. Anything can be reversed; these are human decisions.”  – Noam Chomsky (An interview with the Al Jazeera- Jan 12 ) President Rajapaksa does what he wishes to do. That should not surprise us as this is simply who he is. He impeached the Chief Justice saying that the law was […]

Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI, a Sri Lankan Catholic priest who once came to the attention of the world due to his excommunication by Rome which was later lifted, passed away yesterday in Colombo. He had been unwell for some time and was 89 years of age at the time of his death. He was a […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the chairpersons of four parliamentary committees Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Chairwoman, Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law & Tranquillity Committee Thura U Aung Ko Chairman, Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial & Legal Affairs Committee U Aung Nyein Chairman, Amyotha Hluttaw Public Complaints & Petitions Committee Dr Aye […]

15 January 2013, 6:03 am We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest terms the beheading of Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan domestic migrant worker convicted aged 17 in 2005, for the accidental death of an infant, in Saudi Arabia on the morning of 09 January 2013. We are shocked at the decision of Saudi Arabia’s […]

In a surprising move, the Chief Justice of Pakistan has directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the Rental Power Projects Cases HRC No: 7734G of 2009. On 15.01.2013 the Supreme Court of Pakistan over reached its judicial power and all boundaries of its jurisdiction. The court, once […]

On January 15, the Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC) heard oral arguments questioning the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and its conformity to international norms and standards. The Cybercrime Prevention Act is one of the many unprecedented pieces of legislation in the Philippines in recent years. The Cybercrime Law is expected […]

With the law, the legal institutions and the courts diminishing in value secret agencies are surfacing quite openly once again. The presence of the military and the police the night before Mohan Peiris was sworn in as chief justice and also during the day itself and the ferocious manner in which the Chief Justice, Dr. […]

On 14th January, around 7 pm the Secretary to the President and DIG Anura Senanyaka required the Registrar of the Supreme Court to pack all belongings of the Chief Justice (Dr. Bandarayaka) and send the same to her residence. He had also been told that the new Chief Justice would  arrive on the following day […]

The appointment of former Attorney General Mohan Peiris as Sri Lanka’s new Chief Justice raises serious concerns about the future of the Rule of Law and accountability in the country, the ICJ said today (January 15). Mohan Peiris has served in a variety of high-level legal posts in the past decade, always playing a key […]

I am the 43rd Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. As the Chief Justice, I have an obligation and an unwavering duty towards the judges, lawyers and the citizens at large of my country. I stand here before you today having been unjustly persecuted, vilified and condemned. The treatment meted out […]

This morning, according to reports, the main gates leading to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka remained closed and heavily guarded in order to prevent the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake from entering in order to continue to function as the legitimate holder of the post of Chief Justice. She has rejected the ouster by […]

(Note: We reproduce below the text of the letter written to the UN High Commissioner and the President of Sri Lanka requesting to cause an inquiry into the verdict and the execution of Rizana Nafeek who was executed in Saudi Arabia on January 9.) The AHRC requests all concerned persons to write to the UN […]