The following resolution proposed by the president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Mr. W. Dayaratne, was unanimously adopted by the Bar Council at a meeting on November 22, 2008.
WHEREAS, in the exercise of his professional duties, Mr. Dothalu Waniga Chinthamani Mohotti (Ranga) Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is made entitled by Article 14(g) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka read with Section 41 of the Judicature Act, with the right of representation before any authority, including the Police and in the event Mr. Mohotti moved to surrender a suspect in the precinct of the Bambalapitiya Police Station, whom the Police was searching for, the said Attorney was subject to abuse, humiliation and ridicule in the hands of Upul Seneviratne, the OIC, Police Station, Bambalapitiya in the presence of the Public and his client while threatening with life, and the said incident which was recorded in the electronic media manifestly makes clear that the Attorney has been subject to the aforesaid harassment, and
WHEREAS, the said act and attitude of Upul Senerviratne, the OIC Bambalapitiya Police towards an Attorney-at-Law amounts to degrading treatment, the Bar Association, of Sri Lanka, wholly and unreservedly condemn the said act of the Police Officer and call upon the Inspector General of Police and the National Police Commission to interdict the Police Officer and take adequate disciplinary measures forthwith and to ensure the physical safety, the self-respect and the dignity of the Law professionals and to give effect to the provisions of the Circular No.1374/97 issued with regard to the Police-Lawyer relationship, forthwith.
In recent months the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has passed several resolutions regarding lawyers who have come under attack. Once such resolution concerned an Attorney-at-Law in respect of intimidation and threats he received in the case involving the assassination of a client who was pursuing cases against members of the Sri Lankan police on allegations of bribery and torture.
The Bar Association later called for a General Meeting after a grenade attack on the residence of an Attorney-at-Law engaged in a legal practice that is particularly related to anti-graft and torture cases and the general assembly adopted a lengthy resolution condemning the attack and stating that it:
A.) Unequivocally condemns the incident as an attack on/threat to the Legal Profession and its Members;
B.) Demand that the matter be expeditiously, fully, honestly and impartially investigated;
C.) Calls upon H.E. the President of Sri Lanka, Government, Opposition, Inspector General of Police and all other and authorities of the State to take meaningful and effective steps to have the perpetrators brought to justice and to prevent any future recurrence of attempted intimidation against any Member of the Legal Profession;
D.) Resolves that the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka shall forthwith call upon the Inspector General of Police to intimate in writing what steps have been taken to have this matter investigated expeditiously;
E.) Informs all persons, that the Bar of Sri Lanka will not tolerate or countenance threatening actions/conduct at any time or in any way, against any Member of the Bar.
Besides this the Sri Lankan lawyers also face death threats if they appear for alleged terrorist suspects. The Bar Association has not yet taken up this issue and expressed its position on such threats.
Despite of all the resolutions and protests by the Bar Association, lawyers, civil society organisations and international organisations, the police authorities have not taken any action so far on any of the incidents mentioned above.
Within the administration of justice framework in Sri Lanka the position of the lawyer has diminished and the position of the policeman has enlarged enormously. The police have become a power unto themselves and there seems to be nothing within the legal system that is able to bring it within the framework of the rule of law.
In this column the author has repeatedly warned that the Sri Lankan police have now become a threat to the rule of law. As law enforcement is in the very hands of the police, when they themselves become a threat to the rule of law it indicates a crisis of such magnitude that threatens the very survival of Sri Lankan society as a society governed and controlled by the rule of law.
The Bar Association and the lawyers in general, who have rightly taken up the problems of individual members, must now look into the larger picture and contribute to address the basic crisis of the rule of law in the country. Where the rule of law is displaced the very role of the lawyers becomes irrelevant. It is the issue of the irrelevance of their profession under the contemporary conditions in Sri Lanka that the lawyers should address now.
