| by Basil Fernando
( December 22, 2012, Hong Kong,
Sri Lanka Guardian) Within this week alone there were three events directed
against the lawyers who are opposing the impeachment of the Chief Justice.
These were: the attempted attack on the lawyer, Gunaratne Wanninayaka, the
President of Colombo Magistrate's Court Lawyer's Association and the Convener
of People's March; the shooting incident near the residence of the President of
the Bar Association and Member of Parliament, Wijedasa Rajapaksa and the withdrawal
of the security at the house of parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran who was among
the most active lawyers working against the Impeachment.
All this has taken place when the
local and international community has focused their attention on a single issue
of demanding a fair enquiry by a competent and credible tribunal regarding the
allegations against the Chief Justice. The government is in no position to
answer the criticism brought against it of attempting the removal of the
country's Chief Justice without a fair inquiry.
The government's problem is that
it will have to take a step backwards from one of its highly advertised aims of
removing the Chief Justice immediately if it were to do the right thing by way
of providing for a credible inquiry. To admit that the Parliamentary Select
Committee is not an acceptable avenue for such an inquiry and to admit that,
anyway, the manner in which the PSC conducted the inquiry was shockingly unfair
by any standards, seems to be something that the government finds hard to
stomach.
The problem is that the
government cannot be sure that a fair and impartial tribunal may arrive at the
conclusions it wants. Indeed, such a tribunal may even come out with findings
which may be adverse to the government. It may even reveal things that the
government might not wish to have exposed, such as skeletons in its cupboard.
Faced with this situation the
government appears to be falling back on the method that several governments in
recent times have resorted to, that is to intimidate their opponents.
Manufacturing chaos by acts of violence done by unidentified persons is one of
the well-tested methods used in Sri Lanka quite successfully in recent times.
In every case those who do such acts of violence are hidden and well protected
and the government can always deny that it has anything to do with such acts of
violence. On the other hand the would-be victims of such violence and the
society as a whole can be intimidated by such acts.
There are well-trained cadres to
carry out such actions. The Ministry of Defence has within itself total control
of the methodologies by which society can be terrorised at any time. There are
the paramilitary forces and the intelligence services and these are well
provided with vehicles, communication technologies and personnel to carry out
these operations.
While the lawyers and the Chief
Justice herself have resorted to the courts as the ultimate resort on matters
of law the government is boycotting the courts under various pretexts such as
parliamentary privilege. Even one of the most primary notions of a society
based on the rule of law and constitutionalism that the ultimate authority in
the interpretation of the law is the courts is also ignored by the government.
It is starkly clear that it is the
law itself that the government considers as the enemy. The Chief Justice is
perceived as the enemy, not for any ethical reason as it is pretended, but the
fact that she has interpreted the Constitution in a manner that is adverse to
the government. The government wants judges who will interpret the Constitution
in favour of the government. The heart of the conflict between the Chief
Justice and the government at the moment is the law itself.
The senior lawyer, S.L.
Gunasekara in his letter to the executive committee of the Bar Association
clearly pointed out the attempt by the government to create what he calls, a
'stooge judiciary' as against an independent judiciary. The difference in the
two is that while an independent judiciary treats the law as supreme a stooge
judiciary treats the government as supreme.
Many commentators for and against
the impeachment who are discussing acts which are ethical or otherwise,
allegedly committed by the CJ, are missing the heart of the matter at the
moment. That is the future of the law in Sri Lanka. What the government wants
is a judiciary that will not oppose the proposed acts of the government on the
basis of such actions being illegal. Legality and illegality is being made into
a matter that is irrelevant.
The acts of violence that are
taking place now are a reminder that all these concerns for the law will not be
treated as friendly acts by the government. What the government demands is
loyalty to itself, not loyalty to the law.
Subscribe Us
 Within this week alone there were three events dir...){kind=link}