News
MPs’ committee slams laws’ delays as serious and shameful, proposes sweeping reforms
The average length of time between the date of occurrence of a serious criminal offence and the conclusion of prosecution in a high court takes an average of 10 years, a Parliamentary Committee has concluded.
The ten-year average period has been broken down into three time frames:
On an average, the time taken to file indictment in a high court from the date of commission of the offence is 4.7 years; the period between the date of filing of an indictment and the date when the prosecution begins is, on average, 3.7 years while the period between the start of recording of evidence and the judgment takes, on average, 1.8 years, the Committee notes.
Further, the completion of the two appeals in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court takes on average, another seven years which means the entire criminal justice response to serious crimes seems to consume on average about 17 years, says the Report of the Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight committee on Legal Affairs (Anti-corruption) & Media.
The committee’s findings have been based on a report submitted to it by another committee headed by Supreme Court Judge B.P. Aluvihare. This committee looked into the amendments made to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Parliamentary Committee chaired by MP Ajith Mannapperuma has made several recommendations pertaining to the expeditious and efficient administration of criminal justice. It says the responsibility lies with the Government to initiate prompt measures to eliminate this “serious and shameful delay” in the administration of criminal justice while ensuring the accused and the victim of the crime are not deprived of the entitlement for a fair trial.
The committee has made several recommendations to overcome such delays. They include expediting the pretrial process of high courts and appointing Recorder Judges to create an environment that enables the holding of day-to-day trials in cases before the high court in respect of all offences including murders, attempted murders, rapes and child abuse as set out in Section 263(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.
It has also recommended the establishment of 10 new high courts with one each in the districts of Anuradhapura, Kandy, Gampaha and Ratnapura to clear the huge backlog of cases. It also recommends the setting up of a high court in Matale and 5 additional High Courts in the Colombo District.
The Report, which was handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena recently, urges the Government to set aside a high court in Colombo exclusively for child abuse cases, similar to the high court in Anuradhapura.Enhancing the productivity of duties of the Department of Attorney General, an immediate upward revision of salaries and allowances of legal officers and measures to retain competent and experienced officers of the Department while creating a more attractive working environment and benefits to recruit highly competent new officers are also among the recommendations.
The committee proposes that the approved cadre for Senior State Counsel shall be increased from 118 to 218. Of the 100 new officers recruited, 50 should be recruited in January 2018 and the remaining 50 should be recruited in batches of 25 in 2018 May/June and in January 2019.
Another proposal is that an extra Senior State Counsel should be assigned in addition to serving Senior State Counsel in every high court where there are more than 50 indictments without proceedings being not concluded.
In addition to the Karyala Karya Sahayaka currently serving at the Senior State Counsel’s offices at high courts, another KKS, a stenographer and a court clerk should be provided, the committee recommends..
As the new building for the Attorney General’s Department, now under construction, is due to be completed around April next year, a building suitable to house about 100 officers should be provided on rent in an area close to Hulftsdorp until such time and in such building the necessary environment should be created to enable a maximum of two Senior State Counsel to engage in their duties comfortably in one official room, the committee says.
It also says official vehicle facilities should be provided to legal officers of the AG’s Department to ensure their safety and improve the efficiency of service.