Combating child abuse:

Speeding up court procedure, the best - Justice Secretary

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The Justice Ministry is going ahead with the program of establishing new courts under the redesigned judiciary sections and the program is nearing completion to accelerate the hearing of court cases at a closer location and also to improve the quality of justice in the country, said Secretary to the Justice Ministry Kamalini de Silva. She argues that the common conception among the people to have capital punishment for those found guilty for child abuse cases is not practical as the standard of law is very high to impose such sentence.

Expediting process of hearing the cases is the best solution for such cases, she suggests. The Justice Ministry Secretary also said that the Ministry is very keen on bringing Victim and Witness protection laws soon to protect the victims and witnesses and it will be soon be brought as a new Bill. Following are excerpts of the interview the Sunday Observer had with Justice Ministry Secretary Kamalini de Silva.

Q: After several decades the judicial system is functioning in the entire country. What is the progress with regard to the re-establishment of the judiciary system in the North?

A: We have already established almost all the Courts in the North. We have established all the courts which were existed prior to the emergence of the conflict situation in the North. In Jaffna we established the Court complexes in 2004 itself.

In Jaffna district we have court complexes in Jaffna town, Mallakam, Chavakachcheri, Point Pedro and Kayts. They all have been established now. In Kilinochchi we established the court complexes in 2011. The Court complexes we used prior to the war were used by the LTTE and after the end of war we are using the same court complexes in Kilinochchi to hear the cases.

The Mullaitivu Court is also functioning now after it was shifted to a new venue. In Mullaitivu a Court was there but it was used for Civil Appeal Courts. Therefore, all the Courts which were not functioning during the war are now fully functioning in the North.

Q: There was a program to redesign the judiciary system in the country. What is the progress of this program?

A: The redesigning of judicial zones was aimed at expediting the process of hearing the court cases. Now we are in the process of implementing this program. Under this program the number of Magistrate Courts is supposed to be increased from 74 to 106.

The number of district courts has to be increased from 56 to 84 and to establish 20 new Civil Appeal High Courts, six Criminal High Courts and few Juvenile Magistrate Courts. Under this program we had to establish 65 new courts countrywide.

Except for the eight court complexes we have already established the new courts and the delay in establishing the balance eight is due to the delay in acquiring suitable lands.

For example, to establish the Court complex in Mirigama we faced difficulties in finding a suitable land. If we are given a suitable land we are in a position to accelerate the process of establishing that one also.

Likewise, establishment of a few courts were delayed due to such scenarios. Overcoming all these odds we will be able to complete the process of establishing these new courts by next year.

Q: Do you think that the people have benefited from this program?

A: With the increase of the number of Courts we are in a position to expedite the process of hearing the cases after increasing the number of Judges.

Through those changes we are expecting to facilitate the people to have their cases heard in a Court which is located closer to them without travelling long distances.

When we consider Bakamuna area earlier they had to travel nearly 50 Kilometres to reach Polonnaruwa to hear their cases. Now they can have their cases heard in Bakamuna area itself. Therefore I think we are achieving what we expected from this program.

Q: Apart from the establishment of new Courts there is a necessity to improve the facilities at the existing courts also. Do you have a separate program to fulfil that task?

A: We are also in the process of rehabilitating the existing Court complexes which were constructed during the Dutch period and are in a dilapidated condition. Therefore, we have to rehabilitate those court complexes also very soon.

The Government has already allocated funds for the rehabilitation of these court complexes. In the next year we are planning to implement a new program to rehabilitate the court complexes and also to improve the facilities of those Court complexes.

Apart from that, we also need to have proper facilities to store the court productions and all other facilities such as photocopy machines and computers for these courts. At the same time we are also taking steps to improve the knowledge of the Government officials by giving them technological know-how to handle things properly.

To do that we need to educate them on how to keep the court production in a proper manner in order to preserve those court productions until the court hearings end.

We are planning to educate the court officials in this regard and to provide the required knowledge and methodologies. Through that process we are aiming to improve the quality of justice also by providing them the required skills and technology.

Q: The government has declared that the hearing of the cases of LTTE detainees will also be expedited by establishing new courts. What is the progress of that process?

A: The Justice Ministry was requested to establish four new High Courts to expedite the process of hearing the cases of LTTE detainees. The Ministry has already taken steps in this regard. Two courts are already functioning in Vavuniya and Mannar.

Very soon we will be able to have one in Anuradhapura after shifting the Labour Tribunal to another place. In addition, we will also establish another court at Magazine Prison in Welikada. Those are the things the Justice Ministry has to undertake in this process and we are fulfilling what we have been asked to do.

Q: At the Budget debate of last year Minister Rauff Hakeem mentioned that the Justice Ministry is planning to have an International Arbitration Centre in Sri Lanka. On what basis does the Ministry plan to have such a facility in Sri Lanka and how are you going to implement that proposal?

A: Sri Lanka has been identified as an ideal location to have an International Arbitration Centre since the geographical location of Sri Lanka is very favourable to have such facility.

As Sri Lanka is emerging as a good tourist destination it will also help us to attract more businesses to Sri Lanka. Since we are moving forward as a developing nation we thought it is better to have an International Arbitration Centre here.

We can have this facility in Sri Lanka under a low cost compared to other countries such as Singapore or Malaysia. We have all the resources needed to have such an international arbitration centre. Therefore, we are taking steps to implement that proposal step by step.

Q: How can we benefit from having such a centre in Sri Lanka and how can we facilitate this process?

A: This should be established as an independent institution. What we need is to provide the location to facilitate these international arbitrations. Though this is an independent institution the State has to facilitate the centre. Sri Lanka can immensely benefit from having such an international arbitration centre. But it depends on the successfulness of the project. If we take Singapore, they reached their success so many years after they established the international arbitration centre in Singapore.

We also can benefit from it because they are coming to Sri Lanka for their arbitration and they have to spend time here. We also can charge a fee for providing the location. The service providers here can benefit. On the other hand we can attract more towards this centre since we are a tourist centre.

At present we are thinking of having this centre at the World Trade Center since we need to provide the best facilities for those who are coming here for arbitrations.

We have to provide the services to them in accordance with international standards. That is a big challenge for us. We think we can take up that challenge effectively and provide the type of service needed for them as we have a conducive environment for such facility around World Trade Center.

We think we can achieve success in this process. But we cannot get those results immediately. It is a long process and we cannot expect immediate results.

Q: When are we going to implement this project and in what state it is at present?

A: We are in the process of establishing state-of-the-art centre to have this facility. We are planning to open this centre next year. To bring businesses to that centre we have to market this place internationally. But we need to start the centre first to market it internationally.

We have to establish rules and we also have lawyers who are familiar with the arbitration rules. We are working with the two local arbitration centres here in Sri Lanka to make this project a success. If we don’t have international business we can continue with this centre for local arbitration also at the initial stages.

Q: The Justice Ministry has initiated a survey on Justices of Peace (JPs). What is the aim of having such a survey?

A: Through that survey we are going to collect data about all the JPs in Sri Lanka. We are carrying out this survey along with Sri Lanka Telecom. We are going to have all the details about the JPs in a CD and print them in the Rainbow Pages.

Through this people can find the JPs available in the respective areas. That will be a very good service for the people. Through this service also we will be able to identify the areas where we have a lesser number of JPs compared to the population in that area and we will be able to appoint an adequate number of JPs for the respective area. Through that we can provide efficient service to the people. Through this information we will also be able to improve their services by conducting various programs for the Jps.

Q: According to Justice Ministry estimates, how many JPs are in the country?

A: We think there are 100,000 JPs all over the country. But this figure will change after we complete the survey.

Q: What is the action taken with regard to land dispute cases dragging on for long periods?

A: We are taking steps to have an amendment to the Civil Procedure Code to expedite the process. The amendments are now with the Law Commission. They are looking at it.

Q: Victims and Witness Protection laws are considered long overdue in Sri Lanka. Is there any mechanism to bring those laws soon?

A: We are going to bring Victims and Witness Protection law to the Parliament soon. When it was presented in the last Parliament many amendments were proposed to the Bill.

The Parliament was prorogued when the Victims and Witness Laws was there on the agenda of the Parliament. We are going to present this Bill again in the Parliament incorporating all those amendments proposed in the Parliament. It will be first presented for Cabinet approval and then presented to Parliament.

We think that this law is an important law since victims and witnesses are also having a right to make a statement in the Police station and this has not been covered in our laws.

With the introduction of this law we recognise this as a right of the victims and witnesses and they have the right to make a statement in the relevant Police station or in any other Police station. Presently we are focusing only on punishing the person who committed the crime but we have not paid enough attention towards the victim or the witness. So there are possibilities of them being harassed. That is why we need to bring these laws very soon.

Q: There is a huge demand by society to impose capital punishment for those found guilty in child abuse cases. What do you think about this situation?

A: There is a huge debate on this issue and a committee has been appointed to look into this. My personal opinion is that by imposing the death penalty we can put a stop to child abuse cases.

The standard is very high when we impose the death sentence for child abuse cases. Then there is a possibility that the accused will not get any punishment.

On the other hand, if they feel that the sentence they are going to get is high they may tend to kill the abused child as it happened in the incident in Kirulapone. Then we have to consider the existing laws in other countries and think of changing the laws in Sri Lanka accordingly. But I don’t think that people are committing those crimes thinking of the sentence.

Q: What is the other action the Justice Ministry could take to combating child abuse cases?

A: We think the hearing of these cases within a short period and punishing the person who committed the crime is the effective way of combating these crimes. If we drag on the case for years the child who has been abused has to give evidence in the Courts even at the age of 16.

That will be an embarrassing thing for those children. We have commenced a process in this regard combining the Attorney General’s Department, Justice Ministry, Police Department and Health Ministry to expedite conducting the investigation on child abuse cases.

We are instructing them to complete the investigation within three weeks to expedite the process of hearing child abuse cases. Under this program, the investigation officers will get the chance of having direct contact with the supervisory officer of the Attorney General’s Department, the DIG of the respective division and also to have contact with the Judicial Medical Officers. We have established this network properly. Through that we think we can punish the offenders.

Q: There is a suggestion to have a trial-at-bar to expedite the process of hearing such cases.

A: It is not practical to have a trial-at-bar for each and every child abuse case. If we have a trial-at-bar for a case, we need to have three High Court Judges. Once they are assigned for that task, the hearing of the cases of the respective High Court gets affected.

Therefore, it is not practical. The most effective way is to expedite the process of hearing those cases after completing the investigations in three weeks. But if the Attorney General thinks that the case deserves to be heard at a trial-at-bar, provisions are still there.