Safeguard sanctity of the judiciary
Posted on October 6th, 2016
Editorial By The Nation –
Much has been said in the electronic media in particular over the past few days concerning the slandering, criticizing and threatening of judges in the online media on judgments delivered by them. Among them was the allegation that telephone lines of a judge who had given a dissenting judgment in a politically-sensitive case had been tapped and his email hacked. Even the Bar Association of Sri Lanka had taken the matter up with due seriousness and had even indicated their willingness to pursue legal action against the wrong doers.
One thing that we all should bear in our minds is that in a multi-judge bench any judge has a right to differ in his opinion for which he gives his reasons. That is the very reason why there are panels consisting of several judges where verdicts are given according to the majority opinion. The traditions have been part of our judicial system for centuries. Whether a judge is right or wrong is a matter of opinion and no outsider should have the authority go into that except a higher court in appeal.
As pointed out by the Bar Association, judges unlike politicians or other officials are not supposed to come out and defend themselves when they are attacked through the media. Like others, judges are also subject to all human frailties and there have been enough incidents both here and abroad where judges have even been removed or punished for wrong doings. But there is a well-established procedure for doing so without damaging the entire institution.
Merely opening the gates of the media to bring unsubstantiated and baseless allegations against the judges will only bring the entire judiciary into disrepute in the eyes of the ordinary people who often look up to the institution for relief whenever they are wronged. A free judiciary is an important element in a democracy and safeguarding the sanctity of that institution is a sacred duty of all the people.
October 7th, 2016 at 5:59 am
I simply can’t comment on the recent court events and comments against the justice system but I can surly criticize the judges in our courts that allow court cases to drag on for decades which is heartless. I myself and my family members have suffered immensely over this where one of the best pieces of my land had being forcibly occupied by a powerful person where the judges over the decade just postponed the cases. My late sister died without ever getting her house back and my surviving sister is bed ridden as she could not go and enjoy her own house that took over a decade fighting a case with a man who was involved in a multiple murders. What she got back is a ruined house and I blame the judiciary. In a similar case the judgment is given in one day in London.
We may boast about our past glorious history or our present advanced culture but I simply can’t see that in our daily lives in the country.
Writers are hallucinating while the politicians are taking us for a ride.