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Top lawyers want House to take up JSC crisis
The referral of the resignations of two members of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to Parliament is currently being supported by an increasing number of President’s Counsel who are in the process of signing a request to that effect to be submitted to the Government and the Opposition.

Justices Shiranee Bandaranayake and T.B. Weerasuriya resigned from the JSC last week citing ‘matters of conscience” as their reason. The remaining member and Chairman of the JSC is the Chief Justice. The two members who have resigned have stated that they would disclose the reasons and the context for their resignations to a Parliamentary select committee.

The requested referral to a Parliamentary Select Committee is also being called for by, among others, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Organisation of Professional Associations, the Editors Guild, Transparency International and the Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Both Transparency International and the AHRC have also called for a Parliamentary reference to enable a committee of past Chief Justices to look into the matter.
On Friday, the AHRC, issuing a statement, acknowledged the fact that several senior members of the opposition United National Party (UNP) have issued statements expressing concern over the resignation of two judges from the three member Judicial Service Commission and requesting that a Parliamentary select committee should be constituted to inquire into such a significant event relating to the administration of justice in the country.

However, the AHRC pointed out if this tremendously important issue of public interest is to receive an appropriate response by way of a select committee, it is essential to go beyond public statements.

Its statement further states that; “It is a sad aspect of the local political culture that everything stops after making public statements and no measures are taken on the basis of available parliamentary avenues to ensure that the matter reaches the appropriate fora. All persons having public interest as their main concern would want the country’s opposition to do much more in order to pursue this matter.”

The resignations have rendered the JSC largely inoperative, even though acting appointments can be made by the President for a period of not more than fourteen days.

The fact that the Constitutional Council still remains to be constituted in terms of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution has meant that the JSC, along with the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) cannot be re-constituted as the CC plays an essential role in approving the nominations to the JSC and making the initial recommendations of the members to the other two Commissions.

The failure by the Government and the Opposition to reconstitute the CC after its first term ended in March last year has resulted in the lapsing of key independent commissions as well as in vacancies to the Court of Appeal not being filled for over several months.

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