{"id":99029,"date":"2020-02-17T23:38:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T05:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99029"},"modified":"2020-02-17T06:15:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T13:15:42","slug":"mcc-review-committee-cannot-be-above-the-law-or-the-judiciary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/17\/mcc-review-committee-cannot-be-above-the-law-or-the-judiciary\/","title":{"rendered":"MCC Review Committee CANNOT be above the Law or the Judiciary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There\nare 3 pillars of governance in Sri Lanka while the constitution is very clear\nthat the sovereignty is inalienable from the People of the Country. Therefore,\nthe President, Parliament & Judiciary all are empowered by the people and\nthey only enjoy powers delegated to them by the People to function on behalf of\nthe People and not in their personal interest or their political party\ninterests. In short it means that the decisions by the 3 pillars must conform\nto the interests of the Nation and the Majority of People who live in the\nNation. Several times the previous government made attempts to pass the Land\nSpecial Provisions Act and FR petitions to Supreme Court resulted in verdict\nclaiming that the consent of the Provincial Councils was required. MCC Review\nCommittee is restricted by this Court verdict because MCC Agreement 1-33 states\nthat MCC funding is subject to privatizing State land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\n28 June 2019 State Lands (Special Provisions) Bill was tabled in Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petitions\nwere filed in the Supreme Court challenging that\nthe Bill violated provisions of Article 12 (1) of the Constitution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSupreme Court determined that State Land (Special Provisions) Bill should be included\nin the Order Paper ONLY AFTER the President has sought opinion from the\nProvincial Councils as per provisions of Article 154. However the\nWickremasinghe Govt had violated Article 154 by including Bill in Order Paper\nwithout seeking consent of Provincial Councils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respecting\nthe court decision, in August 2019 GoSL withdrew the controversial State Land\n(Special Provisions) Bill in Parliament citing that Annex 1-34 could not be\nfollowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nWickremasinghe Govt said that it intended to give 2.5m land deeds to people\nprivatizing state land. 2.5m owners cannot take the rights away from 21million\npeople plus future generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failing\nto pass the State Land (Special Provisions) Bill the Wickremasinghe Govt tried\nanother stunt by bringing Ruhunu\nDevelopment Corporation Bill which too was included in the Order Paper. The\nBill proposes to vest the PM with powers to declare any extent of land in districts\nof Moneragala, Hambantota, Matara & Galle as economic development zones\nthrough a simple gazette notification and allowed the Ruhunu Economic\nDevelopment Corporation the powers to lease or rent the lands to any person or\ncompany for economic development projects. The subtle manner that the Bill was\ntrying to usurp state land was obvious.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ntoo was challenged in Supreme Court which determined that proper procedure was\nnot followed as Sections 16 & 17 of the draft Bill were subjects that came\nunder Provincial Councils and should have PC approvals before seeking\nParliament approval. https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/09\/01\/sri-lanka-ruhunu-economic-development-corporation-slredc-bill-detrimental-to-the-country\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2019 the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) filed a\nFundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order\nstaying all approvals and decisions issued by anyone in respect of the\nMillennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact, Status of Forces Agreement\n(SOFA) and, Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GMOA claimed\nits FR guaranteed under Articles 12(1) and\/or 14(1)(h) of the Constitution had\nbeen infringed & continued to be infringed by the Cabinet of Ministers\ngranting approval for MCC USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nGMOA further said that if the MCC is signed or executed in Sri Lanka it would\nerode & impinge the fundamental tenet of Sovereignty of Sri Lanka which the\nconstitution provides Free, Sovereign & Independent\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usurping\nJudicial Powers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n