The Island.lk:
People have serious doubts about transparency and independence at upper echelons of the judiciary, UNP Deputy Leader Karun Jayasuriya told Parliament on Saturday.
Participating in the third reading stage of debate on budget 2011 under Justice Ministry heading, Gampaha District MP Jayasuriya said the people demanded that the judges not barter their independence for bribes, MP Jayasuriya said.
Judiciary in a free and independent country had a pivotal role to play. Democracy prevailed only if judiciary was free from external influences, he said.
The new Justice Minister was a senior lawyer and believed in the need for ensuring the independence and transparency of the judiciary, Jayasuriya said. “We know that he came under various threats and intimidation for speaking on behalf of the independence of the judiciary.”
The UNP Deputy Leader demanded that the executive presidency be abolished. He said the police and the judiciary had to maintain their independence because lack of public trust in them would make people to explore other remedies in their quest for justice. That was one of the reasons why the people resorted to violence as manifest in some incidents where the people took the law into their hands and set vehicles involved in road accidents on fire.
Laws delays had led to a backlog of cases in Magistrate, District and appeal courts. Some cases dragged on for 20-30 years. By the time some cases were concluded, the litigants were long dead, MP Jayasuriya said.
Justice Minister Rauff Hakim admitted that the judiciary was one of the sections that needed structural changes and improvements. He said that the government was duty bound to restore the independence of the judiciary.