Monthly Archives: December 2012

UNDP withdraws sponsorship of Judges Conference due to ministerial interference

The UNDP has withdrawn its sponsorship of the annual judges conference due to politically motivated decision by the Social Integration Ministry.
Lawyers said the Ministry had arbitrarily cancelled the programme despite a Memorandum of Understanding.
The Judicial Service Association (JSA), the association of the judges of the original court, had organised the Annual Judges Conference, sponsored by […]

By | Published on December 19, 2012 at 10:28 am

Elmore files Petition in Supreme Court

Please click on the link below to read full Petition
SCA -692 – 2012 Petition Elmore Perera

By Elmore Perera, Attorney-at-Law | Published on December 18, 2012 at 11:39 pm

The pitfall of implementing LLRC only in part

Recent incidents in Jaffna are a matter for concern. Two such incidents have widely publicized and have attracted much commentary. Both of them involve the civilian population and the security forces. One case has involved Tamil women recruits into the army and the other university students who were commemorating the war dead. As a result […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on December 18, 2012 at 10:13 am

Their paradise, our pandemonium

“Please. How will we live if you steal from us?”
Dave Eggers (What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng)
Fuel up
The price of petrol went up, again, as Colombo was being geared up, on presidential orders, by the military for the Night Races – a pet project of Namal Rajapaksa.
Night races
Colombo, this weekend, is […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on December 18, 2012 at 10:08 am

Impeachment motion: Were crimes committed by the PSC members?

“I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.” – Barack Obama
Declaration of assets
Among the charges mentioned in the Impeachment Motion against Chief Justice Shirani […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on December 18, 2012 at 9:49 am

Media freedom in post war Sri Lanka and its impact on the reconciliation process

At the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka in May 2009, many hoped that this would represent a sharp break with the past and usher in a new period of media freedom. However, as the BBC Tamil Service producer Swaminathan Natarajan shows, such hopes have proved ill-founded.
For his research paper,Media Freedom in post-war […]

By Swaminathan Natarajan | Published on December 15, 2012 at 2:49 am

Betting on the wrong horse

Darling Ma-hinder
I had always thought that your top man at the United Nations in the Big Apple, your big Kahuna on First Avenue was a bit of a (PRUN)E. Almost completely surrounded by some stubby grayish whiskers on his face and some stubby graying deputies on his person – albeit on a less frequent basis, […]

By Thelma | Published on December 14, 2012 at 1:44 am

Rajapaksa regime is in serious danger of total international isolation

Found guilty
The impeachment process launched by the government against Chief Justice Shirani
Bandaranayake has entered its most contentious and controversial phase. The Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the charges against her has declared that she has been found guilty on three counts and innocent of two others.
Fourteen charges
There were a total of fourteen […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on December 14, 2012 at 1:36 am

Trajectory of an Impeachment

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Friday, 10th August
Divi Neguma Bill was published by gazette notification on the 10th of August and was included
in the Parliament order form. The Supreme […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on December 14, 2012 at 1:27 am

Some thoughts on UN Anti-Corruption Day-9th December 2012

Some Thoughts on UN Anti-Corruption Day, 9th December 2012
Preamble
The inscription carved on the base of the Statue of Dr. K. Nkrumah outside the Law Courts in Accra, Ghana:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of politics and all else shall be added unto you ! ”
Citation from the Mahawamsa – ‘The Great Chronicle’ written in Pali recording […]

By Nihal Sri Ameresekere | Published on December 14, 2012 at 12:55 am