Former Bar Association of Sri Lanka president Saliya Peiris, President’s Counsel, has said the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution should not be enacted at all, warning it could seriously damage judicial independence and democracy.
He was speaking on the 360’ programme broadcast on TV Derana on Monday night, Ada Derana reported.
Two-thirds is not enough
“Our argument is that any amendment that affects the independence of the judiciary requires a referendum because it has an impact on the sovereignty of the people,” he said. “Therefore, a two-thirds majority is not enough; a referendum is also required.”
But he was careful to say the procedural question was not the real one. “There are also certain things that should not be done on ethical grounds,” Peiris said. “Leaving aside the legal aspect, which will be determined by the courts, there are things that should not be done."
"A completely false argument”
Peiris rejected the government’s case that raising the retirement age of judges would speed up hearings, calling it completely false. Most cases involving ordinary people, he said, are heard in Magistrate’s Courts and High Courts, not the higher judiciary the amendment addresses.
“How would cases in the High Court or Magistrate’s Courts be expedited by increasing the retirement age? Will the High Court judges hearing these cases retire within the next two or three years?”
A pointed word for his own profession
He also pushed back on claims that only a small faction inside the Bar Association opposes the amendment, saying members are free to dissent at a general meeting and do not simply follow the president’s line.
He then aimed at an unnamed colleague: “There are several lawyers who are considered popular and who hold press conferences at various places, and some of them are members of the executive committee of the Bar Association. There is one particular individual who has not once said at any executive committee meeting that he is opposed to this.” Ada Derana did not name the individual.
The remarks follow Peiris’s warning on August 22 that “one should not monkey with the Judiciary”, and come as the BASL’s president and secretary have filed their own petition seeking a referendum, while the bar’s leadership faces opposition calls to resign. More than 37 petitions against the bill have reached the Supreme Court.
The 360’ programme is produced by Ada Derana’s own network, and no other verified newsroom had reported the remarks as of Tuesday morning.
