President Maithripala Sirisena said that he had never made arbitrary decisions when it comes to appointments in the judiciary. He further said that the recent appointment of a High Court judge which led to controversy was done following a request made by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).
The President said the appointment was made him after he received the approval of all key institutions in the legal field. He also stressed that he consistently stood by the principle that the judicial activities must be performed in a fair and transparent manner.
He made these remarks addressing the inaugural ceremony of the ‘National Law Conference 2017’ held at Galle Face Hotel in Colombo yesterday (15th Feb.).
The President pointed out that he is, under no circumstance, ready to use the executive powers remaining with him in an arbitrary manner, as a person who worked very openly as well as a President who gave his executive powers to the Parliament and other independent institutions through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. He further said that he always makes decisions after discussing with the intellectuals and specialists in the relevant field.
President Sirisena lamented that most of the issues related to fulfilling the aspirations of the people through the judicial mechanism were limited to lip service and discussions without finding proper solutions. All the persons in the judicial field should collectively fulfill their duties in solving issues like long delays court cases, the President said.
Chief Justice K. Sripavan, Justice Minster Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya and BASL President Geoffrey Alagaratnam also participated at this event.