Lawyers protest

by Wijitha Nakkawita

Colombo Magistr-ate’s Court Lawyers Association (CMC-LA) walked out of courts yesterday in protest against the Impeachment Motion tendered against Chief Justice Sarath N. de Silva, litigants, witnesses and others who had come to attend the sittings of the Magistrates courts were waiting outside the courts which were totally deserted.

Senior Attorney Hemantha Warnakul-asuirya, President of the CMCLA told ‘The Island’ that the Association was totally opposed to the UNF Government’s move to impeach the Chief Justice at a time when the Supreme Court was about to make a determination on a Constitutional Provision referred to the Supreme Court by the Executive President.

He said the impeachment motion therefore amounted to an interference with independence of the Supreme Court and an attempt to intimidate the Supreme Court and Supreme Court Judges. If there were any charges against the Chief Justice these could have been taken up at an earlier date. The impeachment motion tendered by the government, it is clear was an attempt to impeach the Chief Justice Sarath N.de Silva on some remarks attributed to him in a newspaper but when the motion is tendered at a time when a determination of the Supreme Court is about to be delivered it amounts to an interference with the independence of the judiciary.

CMLA has always taken steps to protect the independence of the judiciary and its members had taken placards and picketed against an instance of action against the Attorney General in the past. When an unjust course of action was taken against High Court Judge Mahanama Tilakaratne the CMLA took steps against it. When Attorney-at-Law Wijedasa Liyanaraachchi was killed during the spate of violence in 1989 CMLA came to the forefront in the protest against it, he recalled.

"The CMLA as an association of lawyers without any political affiliation wishes to protest against the attempt to interfere with the Judiciary and the Independence of the Supreme Court Judges."