RIFKA ZIYARD
COLOMBO : “The legal profession is one which has no equal. I say this because there rest on the profession, with it in the Bar Association, a heavy responsibility to the citizens of this country and to the country itself it has a vital role in protecting the Rule of Law, maintaining the Independence of Judiciary and protecting the sovereignty of the country” said Honourable M.U.M. Ali Sabry, Minister of Justice in his address at Bar Association of Sri Lanka Convocation held yesterday (27th March). He further added, “This responsibility is not a passive one, it is a positive one where there is a need for the legal profession to be at the forefront of the positive social change”
The 47th Convocation of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka was held on 27th March 2021 at the BMICH. Many distinguished personalities from the legal profession attended the Convocation including his lordship Jayantha Jayasuriya PC, Chief Justice, Hon. Dappula De Livera PC, Attorney General, his Lordship Arjuna Obeysekera, President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Sanjay Rajaratnam PC. Acting Solicitor General.
Saliya Pieris, PC was inducted as the 26th President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka at the Convocation.00
Hon.M.U.M. Ali Sabry, Minister of Justice addressed the August assembly and commended the contribution made by the BASL, “Last year has been a tough one to say the least and it is commendable that throughout the period BASL was actively involved in finding solutions for ongoing problems and was supportive to members, judicial administrators staff and litigants. You have done a great job and I hope to see the good work continue. Thank you for the outgoing President, secretary and the rest of the members of the Bar”.
The Minister elaborated his views on the strategic role of a lawyer “Lawyers form core part of the judicial arm of the state it would be easy to assume that by its wording that the judicial arm consists of judges and courts but the assumption would be far from the truth after all what would be the use of the biggest courthouse’s or the best of judges if the parties cannot be heard. Lawyers are there by very nature of officers of the Court and on many levels the ‘Gatekeepers to Justice”.
He further added “The role of a lawyer is not merely one of representing and advising a client for payment but it comes with a high level of responsibility and overriding need for ethical behavior, a sense of justice and national duty. There is overarching need for the public to have confidence and trust and justice is dispensed from the Justice system. In this context the legal profession has a duty of instilling and maintaining this public confidence and trust in the system”.
The Minister of Justice was proud of the contributions made by the legal profession in the international legal arena “Looking at the rich legal history of legal profession in Sri Lanka we can be proud of its independence, it’s contribution to the legal jurisprudence and the persons who have come from it over decades. We have produced world class lawyers, jurist and judges and have contributed at a disproportionately high level to the international law, considering the size of our profession”.
However, he elaborated that the biggest challenge is the massive backlog of cases before the Courts. Minister Ali Sabry said “we have to be realistic of what we have achieved on the ground the time taken to enforce a contract, the indices in which Sri Lanka is placed, we are well aware that the underlying issue in delay among other matters is the sheer number of cases before courts and the massive backlog which in turn has resulted in litigation stagnating. at the end of the 2019 there were totally 766,784 cases pending in our Courts and we had approximately 350 judges to hear these cases. Let us ask ourselves the obvious questions how on earth is an individual judge is supposed to manage such a case load even if he was to work 16 hours a day , 7 days a week, there would be no logical way to get through this backlog within any reasonable period of time”.
He scrutinized the issue and explained that the score of judges per million population reflects the overburdening of judges, “This overburdening of judges is reflected in our score of the judges per million population. Germany has 238 judges per million population while Thailand has 68 even India has 20 judges per million population whereas we have only 15 judges for one million of our population. These indicators are not just academic exercise, they reflect the ground reality of the current state of administration of justice in our country”.
“This level of delay and inefficiency are not only inconvenient and unfair to the citizens but it has far reaching implications to the future of this country. Investors are apprehensive about trusting their money in places with high risk of loss in case of a dispute”. said the Minister.
He mentioned that countries such as India, United Kingdom, Estonia have progressed by embracing digitalization and has taken many innovative steps to enhance efficiency and clear backlogs.
“It is our priority to roll out wholistic solution to this perennial laws delays problems . One that would be a game changer is to put in motion a practical strategy to take a massive leap in the efficiency of hearing cases. In pursuance of this we are determined to double the number of judges within the next 5 years” mentioned Hon Minister Ali Sabry
Minister Ali Sabry congratulated Saliya Peiris PC and the newly appointed members of the Executive Committee. “The bar has chosen you as its leader and I wish you the strength and the determination in performing the important task you carry on your shoulder, the responsibility of guiding this noble profession in the years to come and I have no doubt you will continue to maintain the traditions of the Bar while ensuring that the Bar remains apolitical and standup for the rule of law without fear or favour”.
