Financial Times

Reverse the rules – Innocent until proven guilty
Is it time for an active civil society debate and agitation to change the rules of law in respect of some defined crimes against society applicable in Sri Lanka that presently assume one is innocent until proven guilty? Similarly, is it not time to re-examine and redefine in statue the offences in respect of which the suspects are not entitled for bail? The level of deterioration in law, order and discipline apparent in society certainly supports the urgent need to do so.
A former senior civil servant of Hong Kong, who was a leading light in drafting the constitution at the time of the handover to the Chinese sovereignty, recently analysed the positive and negative aspects of the rules of law that makes the citizens of Hong Kong a part of a disciplined society with a low level of breakdown in law and order and ensures an effective and efficient civil service.

He thankfully acknowledged that in this respect in these key areas there was no change in the situation even after the hand over. The establishment of an efficient and effective anti corruption commission reporting directly to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong within a governance framework where the acquisition of assets by a citizen beyond what can be explained to the satisfaction of the Commission is deemed to be acquired through bribery and assuming that one is guilty of an offence of bribery until and unless one proves his innocence had wiped out low level bribery and corruption from society.

This action coupled with the civil servants being paid and rewarded at market rates maintained in the upper quartile of the salary and benefit structure in the economy makes most civil servants and law enforcement arms nearly free of bribery and corruption, with no disincentives towards efficiency of decision making.

He was however realistic to accept that high level corruption and high level crime were yet prevalent but monitoring and enforcement mechanisms were effective and acts as a deterrent. The active and litigious civil society of Hong Kong duly supported by an efficient and effective Ombudsman and a scheme of legal aid support for any member of society or a segment of society having complaints of human or personal rights violations or on being negatively impacted by any made or delayed executive action, have ensured the continuance of the high standards of efficiency and impartiality of civil service and law enforcement mechanisms.

He recollected his one time role as the Commissioner of Lands, in an economy where land sales by government as the owner of all land were the key component of the national budget revenue stream. He described his then position as the most sought after civil servant by both the private sector and the common people where his decisions and actions were the subject of microscopic examination in a transparent environment.

He was simultaneously the best friend and the most hated and envious subject of society in the discharge of his role and accountability. The societal and family values and norms, the professionalism and integrity of the civil service, the openness of decision making process and civil society group’s interest and action assured the desire and commitment of civil servants to maintain high moral and professional standards, traditions and values.

The continuing professional education options available and the commitment to maintain the civil service capability at the highest benchmarked international standards were other key factors in the equation recounted this retired senior civil servant who is presently the Chairman of the Faculty of the University of Hong Kong providing the platform for the continuing professional education of civil servants.

The new Chinese rulers have not changed the functioning framework in an environment where the civil service unions are effectively unionized and the constitution guarantees a favourable operating regime and structure.

The only influence to which the civil servants were subjected to have been the exposure to a one months familiarization in the operations of the Chinese civil service and the expectations of the new regime, which action itself has been mostly targeted to embed the high values and standards in China and not negatively influence the values and action framework in Hong Kong.

This is pleasing music for Sri Lankans, where a change of a political regime regularly witnesses a change of all key civil servants, followed by political victimization and other negative actions that apply pressure on those who establish an effective decision making process in administration. The lessons from Hong Kong are pointers for the Chambers, Transparency International civil society action groups and policy alternative professionals in seeking a change in the governance framework in the right direction.

(The writer, a respected business leader, could be reached at - wo_owl@yahoo.co.uk)

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