Judicial system weak, needs reforms – Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith

Sri Lanka’s administration of justice is very weak and in need of serious reform, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith Archbishop of Colombo has said.

Speaking at an event held at the Welikada Prison on Christmas Day to pardon 51 prisoners, the Archbishop said the lawyers unnecessarily delay the trials that can be finished quickly, for years, overcrowding the country’s prisons with the remand prisoners.

He opined that the courts should either hear those cases promptly and punish the culprits or should release them. Some prisoners are held for long periods of time for minor offences such as being unable to pay a fine.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said that a maximum time should be set for completion of each different type of trial. He said the whole judicial process in the country should be fully amended.

He said from a humanitarian point of view, the present system should be ended. Otherwise, the inmates suffer in jails unnecessarily, he said.