The Sunday TimesNews/Comment

23rd, June 1996

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Choksy views arouse interest

Minister of Constitutional Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris has shown an interest in the proposals by UNP MP, K.N. Choksy and has requested the leader of the UNP to take the matter for discussion in the UNP Parliamentary Group and the Working Committee.

The Working Committee of the UNP and the UNP Parliamentary Group will be meeting in the first week of July.

When Mr. Choksy made the suggestion to the Select Committee he made it clear that his views were given as a Constitutional lawyer and not as a political representative of the UNP.

According to sources the UNP leader has agreed to put these proposals before the party committee in the first week of July.

UNP National list MP, K.N. Choksy has suggested that Parliament should frame a code of judicial ethics or set of clear norms so that the norms of Judicial conduct would be clear.

Mr. Choksy speaking on the bill to amend the Civil Procedure Code said that the Constitution provides that the judicial power of the people shall be exercised by Parliament itself, through the Courts.

"This provision, no doubt, exists because Parliament as the supreme authority in Sri Lanka has the duty by the people to ensure that Courts and judges function properly and with acceptance", he said.

Mr. Choksy recalled that recently the Bar Association had appointed a standing committee to receive and investigate complaints made by members of the bar and public against judges.

He said the decision had been welcomed by certain sections and criticised by others.

"Those who attacked the decision correctly point out that the Courts system of Sri Lanka was established almost 200 years ago and the judges and our Courts have enjoyed by and large the confidence of the public."

"On the other hand, the Bar Association itself is a responsible institution and its decision to appoint such a Committee has been prompted by the fact that it has received complaints against the conduct of certain judges."

"In the situation the question arises as to whether any action should be taken on this issue by the Ministry of Justice or even by Parliament itself.

"No doubt, the Bar Association is alive to the provisions of the Constitution which protect the independence of the judiciary. In particular, Article 116 provides that no judicial officer shall be subject to any directions or other interference from any person except a Superior Court. But, on the other hand, it is the bounden duty of the Bar of this country to ensure that all judges function properly in the interest of citizens who go before the Courts.

A solution must thus be found.

"One method may be to frame a code of judicial ethics or a set of clear norms so that the norms of judicial conduct would be clear.

"Another method may be to establish through the Constitution a permanent Commission on judicial performance which would periodically evaluate judicial performance and make recommendations.

"Neither of these methods would be an adverse reflection on our judges and Courts which have upto date earned public confidence. But it cannot be gainsaid that certain recent developments and the fact that the Bar Association is receiving complaints against the performance of certain judges and their Courts require fresh thinking," says Mr. Choksy.


ICRC back in Jaffna

By Shelani de Silva

The Government has granted permission for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to resume its humanitarian work in Jaffna town and surrounding areas.

An ICRC official said permission had been sought to send a team and approval had been granted early this month. A delegation is now being formed.

"We wanted to send them earlier, but due to logistical problems it was put off for a few days," the official said.

The ICRC withdrew from the Jaffna town and surrounding areas during 'Operation Riviresa' when Jaffna town was liberated by the security forces.

However an offer made by the ICRC to resume transporting of persons needing urgent medical attention from the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to Colombo has not been accepted so far.

An ICRC official told "The Sunday Times" the ship service was urgently needed and they were hoping that permission to resume this service would be granted soon.

According to the director of the Jaffna General Hospital Dr. Ms. N. Kanagaratnam, 20 to 30 patients were transferred to Colombo or other hospitals on a weekly basis and since this service stopped the hospital had been badly affected.

At present they have been granted permission to use the Palaly Military Hospital to attend to very urgent cases, she said.

Dr. Kanagaratnam said the hospital was not receiving any other ICRC assistance now to maintain the hospital and was finding it difficult to manage on its own.

"We earlier had an ICRC surgeon assisting us and now we do not have any surgeons," she said.

The ICRC which was maintaining the 1015 bed Jaffna Hospital withdrew from the area on the instructions of the security forces late last year during 'Operation Riviresa I' in which the Valikamam division, including the Jaffna town was liberated.

Since then the ICRC has been based in Point Pedro and not got involved in any functions in the Jaffna town area.


Probe on Cuban schols underway

The Permanent Commission looking into bribery and corruption is investigating the grant of foreign scholarships for medical students and related events which led to a nine-day strike by doctors recently.

The Sunday Times learns that GMOA President, Dr. Ananda Samarasekara and a Foreign Ministry official had already been interviewed regarding the matter.

The investigation launched on a complaint made by the GMOA, is to centre on how the scholarships were awarded.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in a letter earlier sent to the GMOA had clarified matters regarding the issue of those scholarships, the letter said.

"It appears that in 1987 the Cuban Government offered 20 scholarships for Sri Lankans for medical studies in Cuba. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs, A. C. S. Hameed, had passed this request on to the University Grants Commission with regard to 10 scholarships. But with regard to the other 10 scholarships he appears to have selected 10 persons himself. There are no records in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which indicate that any official of the Ministry had anything to do with the selection of those 10 persons. It cannot therefore be said that those 10 persons were selected by the Ministry.

"There is a certificate in the Ministry's records dated 12th April 1995, TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, under the hand of N. K. Rajalingam, Additional Secretary/Foreign Affairs stating that 10 persons whose names are mentioned in the certificate completed their medical studies under the scholarship scheme granted by the Government of Cuba in 1987."


SAS cautions UNP over devolution proposals

The President of the Sinhala Arakshaka Sanvidhanaya ex-UNP Minister Gamani Jayasuriya in a letter to the leader of the UNP and leader of the opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that the UNP should decide on the devolution issue with the long term interests of the country at heart and not to win minority votes. This is what the Sanvidhanaya expects from them, he said.

The letter cites with concern an article on a statement made by senior UNP MP A. C. S. Hameed which appeared in the 'Lankadipa' last month where Mr. Hameed says, "If the UNP opposes the devolution proposals the Tamil votes will thereafter be lost to the UNP and part of the Muslim votes. Opposing the package can have serious repercussions for the future of the UNP."

Mr. Jayasuriya also states that the Sanvidhanaya has always maintained that no solution should be based on the fictitious claim that the Northern and Eastern Provinces are the "traditional homeland" of the Tamils. The SAS also says that according to its view the solution to this problem is to determine what 'grievances' the Tamil community still suffers from as a community and which the other communities do not suffer from and solve these problems.

Mr. Jayasuriya further states: "We also wish to record our alarm at a proposal, as reported in 'The Sunday Times' and 'Island' 9.6.96 that amendments should be made to Articles 2 and 76 of the Constitution to enable plenary legislative power to be conferred on Regional Councils. We wish to point out that we are totally opposed to any tampering with the provisions of Articles 2 and 76 which would result in a dilution of the powers of Parliament as the supreme legislature of the country.

"These two Articles were incorporated in the 1978 constitution by the then UNP government, no doubt after very careful consideration and in the interests of the future of the country which requires that the legislative assembly that is elected by all the people should be supreme as it is the only legislative body that represents the will of all people. The legislative power of Parliament should therefore not be diluted or circumscribed in any way."

The Sanvidhanaya also says that even though the governments states that the Tamils have some grievances they have not been able to elicit from the government what these grievance are. They say that according to their view there are no such grievances as would justify splitting up the country into eight or nine semi-independent units as it is proposed in the government's proposals of the redemarcation of provinces on the basis of ethnicity.


Lankan parliament condemns Myanmar

Parliament at a special adjournment debate held on Friday expressed concern at the current developments in Myanmar.

In 1995 Parliament passed a resolution calling upon the authorities in Myanmar to transfer political power to the democratically elected leaders.

At the debate the House expressed concern at the lack of progress with regard to democratic transition and on compliance with the U.N. General Assembly Resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

Several members drawn from both sides of the House expressed alarm at the recent anti-democratic measures against the National League for democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Parliament further endorsed a statement made by the Sri Lankan Parliamentary Group for the promotion of democracy in Myanmar calling upon the Military regime to enter into a constructive dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi on a rapid transition to democracy.

It was further decided for a Parliamentary delegation to convey to the Myanmar Ambassador in Sri Lanka the strong sentiments of Parliament with regard to current developments in Myanmar. It was further decided that governments which are members of SAARC should be urged to use their good offices to facilitate democratic reform in Myanmar.

The Parliamentary group on Myanmar also decided to convene a public meeting with non-governmental organisations, trade unions and other people's organisations to emphasise the strong historical links with the people of Myanmar and to support the pro-democracy forces.


Army lifts barrier

More than 1,000 youths from the LTTE controlled areas were allowed into the Vavuniya town yesterday.

A Defence Ministry official said the 1,000 youths and youthful looking persons were allowed into the cleared areas after they were screened.

This is the first time that such a large number were allowed into the cleared areas, the official said. "Most of them are going to Colombo," he said.

Normally only about 25 persons are allowed into the cleared areas.

The official said these youths have been trying to come into the cleared areas for the past one month. "They were in the other side of our FDL in Nochimodai."

The Sri Lanka Army opened its barrier at Nochimodai and youths began trickling in from early morning, the official said.

He said the decision was taken to allow the youth into the cleared area was to prevent them joining the LTTE. "The LTTE recruiting campaign is going on. These youths are normal citizens. They are not LTTEers," the official said.

Continue to the News/Comment page 2 - Jaffna: picking up the bits and pieces

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