Judges urge halt to state media bashing

Some 300 judges in the Judicial Services Association yesterday condemned the mudslinging campaign against the Chief Justice and the Judiciary in the state media and called on the Government to ensure that the impeachment inquiry against the country’s top job is transparent and adheres to the principles of natural justice.

A meeting of magistrates and district court judges were held at the Superior Courts Complex at 3 p.m. yesterday. Daily FT learns that about 300 judges were present at the meeting. In a statement released following the meeting that was endorsed by all members of the JSA present, the judges association called on the President to stop the attacks on the Judiciary in the state media while the impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice were underway. The JSA noted that the insults being hurled at the Judiciary and the Chief Justice were detrimental to the country’s judicial system.

It also called on the Government to ensure that the inquiry being held against the Chief Justice was a process that ensured a fair trial and upheld the tenets of natural justice. Proceedings in district and magistrates courts in some parts of the island were suspended yesterday for district court judges and magistrates to attend the meeting in Colombo. The decision to summon the meeting was made after a meeting of the Judicial Services Commission on Sunday (2). The Ministry of Justice on Sunday warned that court proceedings may be disrupted due to the meeting of the judges. (DB)