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| Sunday, 12 December 2004 |
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Public views sought on law reforms by M.P. Muttiah Dr. Lakshman Marasinghe, the new Chairman of the Law Commission, has sought proposals from the public on law reforms aimed at dealing with them on grass roots level. The Law Commission members would visit High Court level zonal bars and obtain their views before introducing new proposals for reforms vital to overcome discrepancies in the implementation of laws. There were law delays and certain cases had not been heard for more than twenty years due to dearth of courts and financial constraints. Marasinghe said that mediation boards had been functioning very well and were appreciated by the public. As a result, only 40 per cent of the cases were forwarded to the judiciary. Referring to the protection of witnesses, the Chairman of the Law Commission said that there were instances of threats and the families of victims were not safeguarded or compensated by the State. The Law Commission recommended an Organised Crimes Bill which allowed withholding of suspects for a period of 24 to 72 hours. Therefore, the Law Commission had decided to recommend reforms to the Justice Minister on civil procedure, amendments to the Firearm Ordinance, termination of pregnancies, title registration, cyber law, DNA, criminal procedures and non-summary proceedings, underworld activities and the strengthening of judiciary. The Chairman said the Law Commission would establish close contacts with Australia, India and Canada and seek their proposals as those countries faced similar problems. Dr. Marasinghe said public participation was vital and the Commission had decided to conduct workshops and seminars on zonal level bars and seek their views. The other members of the new Commission were Nalin Abeysekera, PC, K. Kanag Iswaran, PC, Nihal Jayamanne, PC, D.P. Mendis, PC, C.R. De Silva, PC, Solicitor General, Wijayadasa Rajapkase, PC, Dr. Deepika Udagama, Dhara Wijetilake, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Justice and Judicial Reform, Dr. Harsha Cabraal, Dr. K.H.J.R. Wickremaratne, PC, L.C. Seneviratne, PC, Ranjith Abesuriya, PC and Dr. Mario Gomez. The Chairman of the Law Commission also requested the public to send their proposals to No. 93, Isipatana Mawatha, Colombo 5. |
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