Civilians' rights assured - Bar Association Chief
By jaliya WIJEYEKOON
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Shibly Aziz PC
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It is the common belief that most police officers are not aware of
the meaning and formation of the word Police which stand for Polite,
Obedient, Lenient, Intelligent, Courteous and Efficient.
Public media often report that when an innocent person visits a
police station to seek justice and fairplay for his or her grievances,
they are treated shabbily by police officers or had been subjected to
untold hardships and confronted with more serious situations
There had been a number of incidents in the past where innocent
people have been harassed tortured and even killed by the police while
in custody due to sheer disregard of law and accepted legal procedures.
It is not only ordinary civilians who were victimised by the police
but also the people of the stature of senior attorney Eardley Perera PC
and JMO Udugama, Dr. Salgado who were victimised by the police for which
eventually the police officers concerned were punished after going
through the legal process and being convicted.
An incident was reported recently where an Attorney-at-law was badly
abused by the officer-in-charge of the Bambalapitiya Police Station,
when he visited the police station to look into the interest of his
client who was in police custody.
The Attorney-at-law in question instituted legal proceedings against
the OIC for violating his fundamental rights and obstructing his duties
for which the accused tendered an apology at the trial and the matter
was settled amicably.
However, the Supreme Court has directed the IGP Mahinda Balasuriya to
formulate a code of conduct in entertaining complaints from the public
on their grievances and also to assist lawyers who visit police stations
to look after the interests of their clients in police custody.
The Sunday Observer contacted the President of the Bar Association of
Sri Lanka, PC, Shibly Aziz for further clarification and he said that
the legal framework of the code of conduct has been already drafted by
the legal Draftsman which will be subjected to scrutiny and endorsed by
the relevant authorities and it will be incorporated in Section 57 of
the Police Ordinance. It will be translated in to all three languages
and gazetted soon and will come into effect shortly.
 He said that a committee will be appointed to monitor the smooth
implementation of the new procedures by all police stations in the
island and the public will be informed of their legitimate rights.
The constant complaints by the public on harassment, intimidation and
unlawful detention by the police will be minimised with the
implementation of those new procedures, he said.
Police media spokesman SP Prashantha Jayakody told the Sunday
Observer that there is a very effective set of guidelines in the Police
Ordinance for dealing with the public which the police follow at present
and if there are further additions or introductions to the prevailing
guidelines over a Supreme Court judgement, they too will be exercised in
future for better civil administration in the society. |
