Black coats off duty today to protest impeachment

Sri Lanka’s judicial system looks poised to come to a grinding halt for at least a few hours of the day island wide today as judges and lawyers stage a boycott to demand justice and fair trial for Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

Dozens of branches of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka in several districts will boycott courts for at least an hour today, while some zonal branches of the Bar have organized full day strikes.

Lawyers practicing in the Hulftsdorp District, Magistrate and High Courts will stage a boycott today.

According to Constitutional Lawyer and activist, J.C. Weliamuna, at least 57 branches of the Bar will undertaken different types of protests today.

The Jaffna Bar Association already commenced its boycott yesterday and will strike until Friday 14 December to protest the treatment meted out to the Chief Justice and the process undertaken to remove her from office.

The Kegalle Lawyers Association said that its members had decided unanimously to stay away from court duty today, in protest of the treatment the Chief Justice received by the PSC and the lack of fair trial.

“The Members will devote their time tomorrow to conduct public awareness programmes on the matter, to distribute literature and to take part in a public protest in the Kegalle town from 10 am to 11 am,” the Association said. Several lawyers associations in Galle, Matara and several parts of the North boycotted court duty yesterday.

Lawyers from around the country are also due to meet on Saturday 15 December, for an extraordinary meeting of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Weliamuna said.

“The Bar will make major, drastic decisions on that day,” he said.

(DB)