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| Sunday, 23 February 2003 |
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Appointment of ex-judge as Bribery Commissioner : Raises hornets' nest by Asiff Hussein The appointment of retired Justice Upali de Zylwa Gunawardena as Bribery Commissioner by the Constitutional Council has raised concern in some quarters with allegations that proper procedure was not followed and that this would affect the public trust reposed in the body. Among those who have protested the appointment is the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka, which made a formal complaint to the Council on grounds that the retired judge has asked for and accepted, special favours from a complainant in a case he had heard. Desmond Fernando, PC, Chairman, Sri Lanka National Commission of Jurists', said that although in his view Justice de Zylwa Gunawardena had acted impartially when he served as High Court Judge in Colombo, the public perception of him had unfortunately not been that positive, especially after his verdict in the Sinha Ratnatunge defamation case which was widely perceived as being favourable to the then government. He explained that it was imperative that the public perception of the holder of such a responsible office as that of Bribery Commissioner, be positive if public trust in the body was to be maintained. Besides, the courts had always acted upon the public perception of impartiality. As such, it was only proper that the Constitutional Council reconsider their decision, he said. Rohan Edirisinghe, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, and Director, Legal Unit, Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), opined that once a judge retired, it was better that he not be allowed to take up government appointments, as such a move was 'bad' from the point of view of protecting the independence and dignity of the judiciary. He pointed out that Justice de Zylwa Gunawardena had obtained special permission from the President to practise at the Bar following his retirement which had also unfortunately affected the public perception of him.Edirisinghe said that he was also surprised that the Constitutional Council had not taken into account these factors when making the appointment. The controversy raised another important issue, whether the council had some guidelines in connection with its process of nominating persons to high posts. The council also had an obligation, to make its procedures more transparent such as notifying their intended appointments through the mass media so that valid objections could be raised wherever such appointments were considered unsuitable, he added.Director, Human Rights Commission (HRC), Nimal Punchihewa, too opined that the appointment of Justice de Zylwa Gunawardena was questionable, especially since it would affect the public trust reposed in a professedly impartial body as the Bribery Commission. He also criticised the Constitutional Council for not informing the public of the appointment by prior notice in the media, despite there being a directive to that effect. |
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