CJ off to HK despite protests

Chief Justice Sarath N Silva left yesterday for Hong Kong to attend a seminar ignoring threats by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to hold a protest against him.

He is due to attend a conference entitled “Hong Kong Basic Law: the first ten years and its future” organized by the City University.

Justice Silva was due to leave earlier this week for the event, but had been delayed due to logistical arrangements. The AHRC was planning to hold a demonstration on Friday against Justice Silva, but eventually called off the protest saying the Chief Justice had postponed his visit.

However the Chief Justice yesterday went ahead with his proposed visit. The AHRC also had sent a letter to the acting President and the Dean of the School of Law of the City University regarding the participation of the Chief Justice at the conference.

Meanwhile Supreme Court Judge Nihal Jayasinghe was sworn in as the Acting Chief Justice before President Mahinda Rajapaksa last morning.