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President Mahinda Rajapaksa was recently quoted as saying that he will take stern action to see that the judiciary will remain ‘pure’. This statement raises many questions. The test of a g...

Sunday, 21 April 2013 02:24 Bishop of Mannar, Most Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph said he never stood for the separation of the country nor rejected any viable political solution to the national question. Th...

REFERRING to the Statements we have previously issued expressing our grave concern about the flawed impeachment process by which Chief Justice Bandaranayake was removed from the office of Chief Justic...

A Reflection by Bishop Duleep de Chickera Over the past months Sri Lankans have been educated on two Arabic words: halal and haram (that which is permissible and not permissible). Unfortunately the c...

The International Bar Association in the executive summary of their report entitled, ‘A Crisis of Legitimacy‘ issued in March 2013 makes the following recommendation to the Commonwealth: T...

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 02:34 The Attorney General is reported to be collecting statistics on incidents of rape and child abuse. Though this has come a little too late it is commendable. We are sad t...

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Vidana Mahaduralage Somarathne, a farmer by possession, was illegally arrested, detained and severely tortured ...

We reproduce below the inauguration address of Upul Jayasuriya, president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, delivered on 30th March 2013. Ven. Maha sangha, Your Lordships Judges of the Supreme Cour...

An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Kishali Pinto Jayawardena With a foreign policy in tatters, the judiciary and the legal system in deep crisis and the st...

Dear friends,  We wish to share with you the full text of the speech of former Supreme Court Judge C. V. Wigneswaran at the 39th Annual Convocation of BASL. Asian Human Rights Commission  Hong Kong ...

In a very recent order from the Supreme Court of India the court, among other things, stated as follows: For this Court, the life of a policeman or a member of the security forces is no less precious ...

“When a dog howls at the moon, we call it religion. When he barks at strangers, we call it patriotism.” — Edward Abbey Another howler has emerged from Sri Lanka. And, neither laughin...

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Kumarapperuma Arrachige Dileeka Shanthi Kusum, a 33-year-old mother of two was beaten in public by the Chairman...

The Minister of Health, Maithripala Sirisena, was reported as saying that 65 percent of the cases before the courts in Polunowara district concern rape, child abuse and the harassment of women. He als...

No great gain than virtue aught can cause; No great loss than life oblivious of her laws. – Tamil Kurral  It is not only a portrayal of the lack of will to address the issue of solving problems in...

In mythology we always hear about transformations; that a frog became a prince, or a beautiful princess became an ugly hag, and the like. These stories reflect the phenomenon of transformation, which ...

An article from The Sunday Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission As family members of a murdered ruling party politician travelled to Geneva this week to lay their case for denial of ju...

The annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General to the Human Rights Council has been issued on F...

When the case regarding the torture of Chamila Bandara Jayaratne came before the Supreme Court yesterday (March 11) the lawyer appearing for the respondent police officers, Mr. Manohara de Silva, misl...

The Lawyers Collective learns that Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake has been summoned to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (Bribery Commission), on 18...