I had the privilege of knowing the late Justice Mark Fernando for a period of 50 years, and I would like to highlight not only the achievements but also the outstanding personal and character traits of a person who should be regarded as a benchmark, in terms of competence and integrity, for judicial officers and others as well.
I first met Mark in 1959, when both of us entered the Law Faculty of the University of Peradeniya. From the outset it was obvious that Mark was destined for a great future.
His brilliance was tempered with a caring for his fellow students – a caring I was fortunate to experience at a difficult time in my life.
I was having problems studying for my final examination,. My mother was dying of cancer and I had to travel down to Colombo every weekend. Knowing this, Mark insisted, a week or two before the exams, that I join him at meal times, whenever possible, to discuss topics I had no time to study. He even insisted I walk with him to the examination hall so he could give me a few exam tips.
He was disappointed when I told him I expected to pass, but that I doubted I would obtain a class. Needless to say, Mark obtained a First Class. When the results were announced, I found, to my surprise, that I had gained a Second Class Upper Division. I was informed that I had just missed getting a First Class.
I gave Mark the good news. Instead of congratulating me, he castigated me for not following his advice and spending too much time drinking in Kandy.
The point I wish to make is that Mark was never in competition with anyone, not because he was supremely confident himself, but because to be competitive was not consistent with his standards of behaviour. Jealousy was totally alien to him.
After leaving the university, Mark invited some colleagues, including myself, to join him in helping Father Peter Pillai of Aquinas University College set up a law department for external students who wanted the LL.B. qualification.
We lectured to a great number of students, from full-time students to working people. It is a matter of pride to us that most of the graduates have had successful legal careers. This experience was perhaps one of the most, if not the most, rewarding in my life.
I recall Father Peter Pillai, a brilliant mathematician, once talking about Mark’s own brilliance in maths. I saw that brilliance at work on one occasion when Mark and Father Peter Pillai were making a calculation. Mark finished well ahead of his master, who then said to me: “Remember what I told you about Mark?”
Simplicity and sincerity were the keynotes of the lifestyle of this distinguished man. He was moved by what one of my close friends referred to as the original Christian ethic, which Mark practised in his daily life. In fact, this friend, also a Catholic, told me he had witnessed Mark at certain meetings showing a greater commitment to the basic tenets of Christianity and values than some holding “official” positions in his religion.
I also recall Mark suggesting, back in 1971 during the JVP uprising, that we all collect items of food to distribute to the poor and needy. Anyone who has read Mark’s various presentations will know that he had a deep-seated social conscience.
It is not necessary to labour the obvious fact that Mark was an outstanding judge, and that he also applied his highly developed analytical skills in his approach to the law.
Not everyone can be brilliant, but we expect everyone in authority to conduct himself or herself with integrity, especially persons holding judicial office.
Mark should have been the Chief Justice (his father was, and his grandfather was also a Supreme Court judge), but he was by-passed.
When he left the Supreme Court prematurely, Mark did not make public his reasons for doing so. When I told him he should, in the public interest, he said it would not be proper, for various reasons. He acted according to his conscience. One of the tragedies of our society is that the integrity and ethical conduct Mark exemplified are no longer appreciated or respected, except by a few.
When Mark was a member of the Council of Legal Education, he appealed to the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon for help to bring the legal profession and the Law College graduates closer to the private sector. This was to be achieved by giving law graduates a chance to do a part of their internship in private sector institutions. Promising young lawyers, the institutions involved and the federation all profited thereby. Mark went out of his way to help those who lacked the “contacts” necessary in the legal profession. He also had an abiding interest in the development of legal education in Sri Lanka.
Not only did Mark have a strong sense of right and wrong, he also had a deep spirituality that gave him the strength to endure as his illness took its course. That spirituality also helped him lead as “normal” a life as possible, continuing to meet and help people, despite his condition.
Many of Mark’s admirable personal traits are reflected in his wife and children who looked after him over the last five years, with unswerving love and devotion. They can at least take comfort in the fact that if there were more people like Mark, our society would be richer and our standards higher.
Sriyan de Silva |
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