Justice Weeramantry addresses crisis facing Judiciary; calls for fair trial for CJ

Sri Lanka’s senior most retired Judge and former Vice President of the International Court of Justice and present Chairperson of the UN-mandated Judicial Integrity Group Justice Christopher Gregory Weeramantry yesterday said that there could not be a fair hearing unless the tribunal was “totally and patently” impartial.

Issuing a statement regarding the current crisis facing the Judiciary in Sri Lanka, the highly-respected Justice Weeramantry said that if any members of the tribunal had directly or indirectly indicated their views upon the matter in advance of the hearing, that tribunal “ceases to be impartial” and does not function according to the rule of law.

According to the senior Judge, the Rule of Law demands that every person being investigated by a tribunal has the right “to be informed of the charges, to know the evidence against him or her, to have a full and fair opportunity to scrutinise that evidence and to respond to it” and a denial of any of the factors “vitiates the inquiry and its findings”.

“Such an inquiry is a violation of the rule of law, a denial of basic human rights and a negation of democratic principles,” Justice Weeramantry said in the statement. In his statement, the former ICJ Justice said that he felt compelled to make observations regarding the current crisis facing the Judiciary in Sri Lanka.

“Every citizen from the lowest to the highest has the right to defend himself or herself before a patently impartial tribunal and with full knowledge of the evidence against him or her and with a full opportunity of scrutinising and refuting it,” he said.

Justice Weeramantry observed that unless these principles are involved in an inquiry, where the security of judicial tenure is involved, there is profound damage to the independence of the Judiciary.

This should be a cause of concern to every citizen and every institution in the country. (DB)