Rs. 20 b for justice and legal reforms

Wednesday, 18 November 2020 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The 2021 Budget unveiled yesterday has announced an allocation of Rs. 20 billion for justice and legal reforms.

With legal experts describing it as the largest-ever commitment in Sri Lanka’s history, the funding will be used for a fast-tracked intensive three-year program aimed at increasing the number of Justices and staff in the entire legal system, including in high courts and magistrate courts, and expanding the required infrastructure to rapidly solve those cases.

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during his Budget speech said: “It is a legal maxim that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. To put it simply, delays in the legal system deny the people of legal protection.”

“This not only leads to business-related uncertainties and adverse effects to investment climate, but also causes various forms of corruption and malpractices that affect our day to day life. It also adversely affects the trust of the people in the legal system. It seems that most of the inmates have prolonged stays in prisons due to legal delays,” Rajapaksa added.

Apart from this, he said the inordinate amount of time taken to reach a verdict in court cases can be a cause for numerous social challenges such as unemployment, loss of livelihood, conflicts and crimes.

“If we are to create a law-abiding socio-economic system, we should strive to avoid delays in the legal system and for this purpose the unstinted commitment of the entire legal sector is mandatory,” Rajapaksa said.