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Contemplation
on Contempt While there will surely be sound legal arguments for his conviction, nagging questions still remain as to why Mr. Dissanayake as a Minister in the PA government was 'warned and discharged' when he first talked of disbanding the Supreme Court by sending the judges home but charged for what he said the second time as a UNF Minister, and then sent to jail as a UNF opposition national organiser. Still others would argue that it is high time we did away with 'sacred cows', and the politicians of this country realise they are NOT above the law of the land. Arising from this conviction, many collateral issues crop up. One is still being argued out, i.e. whether a court of law can send an elected MP to jail (which obviously it can), and then prevent the MP from sitting in Parliament. Again, this seems paradoxical in contrast with the case of an MP who is undergoing a lengthy trial for conspiracy to murder, but is allowed to sit in Parliament and vote. All this raises the question of Contempt of Court in the specific instance, and the politics of the country in general. Only last year, following a demand essentially by the country's media associations, the government of the day appointed a Parliamentary Select Committee to study the need for a Contempt of Court Law. Essentially, this was aimed at defining the parameters of Contempt of Court, and to bring us in line with countries such as Britain and India where such a codified law exists. For the purpose of achieving bi-partisanship, on the very suggestion of these media associations, the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed an opposition MP, Lakshman Kadirgamar, to chair the committee. We understand that the committee assiduously studied the written and oral submissions made by several interested groups, including a former Chief Justice, and with the assistance of two state counsel had gone a long way in its deliberations, when Parliament was dissolved. In the turbulent days since the new Parliament was elected, this Select Committee has unfortunately not been revived. The shaky political situation in the country in recent years has often disrupted reforms in the law and Sri Lanka seems to be 'missing the bus' while all around us are forging ahead towards not just economic prosperity, but also a modern, caring and liberal democracy. It is, therefore, pertinent to draw the attention of the country's leadership to a timely UNESCO statement, called the Manesar Declaration on Contempt of Court, made just last week. A former Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice and ex-Supreme Court Justices from Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as senior editors and practising lawyers from South Asia together with legal academics and researchers from other parts of the world, drew up this Declaration. Among other things, the Manesar (a city in the Indian state of Haryana where the deliberations were held) Declaration acknowledged that the law of Contempt of Court had been "misused " in the region, particularly in recent years. It called for governments and judges to, at all times, have regard for the importance of the right to freedom of speech and expression - a right which has been accorded pride of place in international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - while making and implementing the law on Contempt of Court. Judges were urged to bear in mind that their powers on Contempt are not to be used indiscriminately nor vindictively. A softer approach was asked for, by allowing the alleged offender a chance to "purge the contempt and tender a suitable apology". There were duties cast on civil society as well - to uphold the dignity of the administration of justice. The media was called upon to ensure that journalists reporting Courts are adequately trained and educated on issues relating to the law of Contempt. We commend the Manesar Declaration as the way forward for countries, their elected governments and their respective judiciaries to promote good and enlightened governance. Of all the horror stories that came out of case-studies, the worst was, arguably, what has happened to the judiciary under martial law in Pakistan. There was an uncontradicted comment that the average Pakistani citizen's perception is that the judiciary in Pakistan is "corrupt ", both politically and financially and that genuine justice is a daydream. The political-military leadership's tinkering with the judiciary is another sad story. We all know how a remark by the President about a corrupt judiciary in Sri Lanka recently raised a hornet's nest in this country. And heaven forbid Sri Lanka drifting in the direction of Pakistan's Rule of Law where we will have a Presidential-dictatorship under the guise of a sham democracy, and a rubber-stamp judiciary. The undefined law on Contempt of Court needs to be clearly defined; and the defined law must be used as a shield to protect the integrity of the administration of justice and the Rule of Law. Not as a sword. |
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