A senior lawyer specialising in criminal cases and appeals has argued that Sri Lanka should strengthen its criminal justice system before considering reintroducing the death penalty, warning that an irreversible punishment carries grave risks where investigative and judicial safeguards are inadequate.
Senior Counsel Darshana Kuruppu, writing in a Facebook post reported by the Daily Mirror, said the debate over capital punishment had returned to the forefront amid public demands for severe punishment for serious crimes.
”An execution could never be reversed”
Kuruppu acknowledged that victims and their families deserve justice and that those responsible for serious offences must be held accountable. But he said the death penalty differs fundamentally from other punishments, because wrongful imprisonment can in principle be corrected while an execution cannot be reversed.
A case that turned on DNA evidence
Kuruppu said his own professional experience had shown the importance of reliable scientific evidence at trial. He said he had called and presented DNA evidence in two murder trials.
In one, an extremely poor defendant who could not afford private legal representation was initially convicted by the High Court and sentenced to death. The Court of Appeal ordered a retrial, and at that retrial Kuruppu presented DNA evidence that he said played an important role in establishing the circumstances of the case. The High Court acquitted the accused and released him.
“This experience taught me a very important lesson,” he said, stressing that if proper scientific evidence is not identified, collected and presented during an investigation, an innocent person could be convicted of a serious crime.
”The objective should be to discover the truth”
Kuruppu questioned how Sri Lanka could justify an irreversible punishment while weaknesses persist in criminal investigations, evidence collection and preservation, legal representation and the judicial process.
He said the purpose of a criminal investigation should not be merely to find evidence against a suspect but to discover the truth, and that evidence supporting a suspect’s innocence should also be investigated and disclosed. He warned against investigations that begin from an assumption of guilt and then seek only evidence to support it.
Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976, though death sentences continue to be handed down and the question of resuming executions has recurred in public debate.
