Thursday, 13 February 2014 00:16
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Hakeem admits issues exist and says fresh mechanism in the pipeline for solutions
By Uditha Jayasinghe
The Justice and Law Reforms Ministry will establish a Land Relations Board to clear up controversies regarding land issues in the north and east, the Government said yesterday.
Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem told a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gathering that such a board would help resolve land disputes between civilians and military as well as between people. The project will also be supported by the UNDP.
He also acknowledged that a study done in 2009 showed that legal aid access across the country, particularly in conflict areas and for vulnerable communities was insufficient and therefore needed more attention. Particular areas of attention highlighted by him was gender based violence, integration and access to judicial redress as well as collection of empirical data to base future policies on.
Hakeem was speaking at the launch of the UNDP supported program on Strengthening Enforcement of Law, Access to Justice and Social Integration. This project, which existed from 2004-2012, is estimated to have reached around 112, 000 people and will be extended under the new arm launched by the UNDP on Wednesday.
The new program will focus on ensuring that gains in the justice sector are institutionalised, systemised and scaled up. By doing so, the program will also contribute to pledges made by the Sri Lankan Government under the National Human Rights Action Plan and the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
It will be implemented with the partnership of the National Languages and Social Integration Ministry, Justice Ministry, Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Ministry and Women’s Affairs and Child Development Ministry.
“I’m happy this program addresses important issues in Sri Lanka. These include the need to strengthen legal aid services, alternate dispute resolution mechanisms and the administration of justice. I hope that this program becomes the main vehicle through which development funding for the strategic area of social integration and reconciliation can be channelled and would provide the platform to strengthen partnerships among different groups and persons,” said UN Assistant Secretary-General, Chair, United Nations Development Group Asia-Pacific and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Haoliang Xu.
Languages Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara called on the UNDP to conduct follow up studies on their programs and insisted that such efforts are needed to unify the country.
