Hon. Attorney General Mr. Parinda Ranasinghe Presidents Counsel, President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka Mr. Rajeev Amarasuriya, learned President’s Counsel, learned Senior Attorneys, the other members of the Bar, delegates from foreign missions, all the well wishers, ladies and gentlemen:
It is an important and significant part of the rich traditions of our profession, for the Superior Courts of our country to afford opportunities for the Bar to welcome Judges of the Superior Courts upon their appointment to office. We commonly call such proceedings as ceremonial sittings. It is such proceeding that we are engaged in at this moment.
It is customary at moments such as this, to look back at the path on which the newly appointed judge has traversed through in the past. It is that traversing through that the Hon. Attorney General and the President of the Bar Association have just finished.
Let me first and foremost, most humbly appreciate and thank Hon. Attorney General Mr. Parinda Ranasinghe PC and the President of the Bar Association Mr. Rajiv Amarasuriya for the sentiments expressed by them about me and my appointment as the Chief Justice of this country.
Ladies and Gentlemen, all of us in black suites belong to a profession called the “Legal Profession”. No one has ever compelled any one of us to be here. We are here in this profession by our own choice.
If we want to continue in this profession and to command the respect from public as its members, we have to deliver a quality service. We have a duty by the society to administer justice whenever the members of the society come forward to settle their disputes in Courts and before other tribunals. It is to achieve that goal that we all have been licensed. The lawyers have been licensed by the Apex Court i.e., the Supreme Court, the lower Court judges by the JSC; the High Court Judges by the JSC and the President of the country; the Superior Court Judges by the President of the Country and the Parliament. It has been repeatedly said in the past, that the quality of justice delivered would depend on the quality of those who administered it. Then the question is as to who administers justice? Primarily, the Judges assisted by the lawyers learned in the law.
Therefore, we would fail in delivering a quality justice if we do not upgrade, firstly, our individual professional qualities and secondly, the quality of the system through which we administer justice. Upgrading the individual qualities would be more a matter for the individual member. However, to upgrade the quality of the system of administration of justice in this country, the time has come to adopt more advanced methods. The most advanced methods in this era are electronically advanced methods. The electronic method relevant to legal profession is
digitalized method of administration of justice. There is currently no other more advanced method than that.
I have already had several discussions with the President of the Bar Association both formal and informal. As regards the proposed digitization, both of us are on the same wave length. I have also already had few meeting with the Hon. Minister of Justice. Hon. Harshan Nanayakkara was practicing as a senior counsel until he was appointed as the Minister of Justice in this country; he is a member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. Secretary to the Ministry of Justice Miss Ayesha Jinasena is a President’s Counsel, she held the post of the Solicitor General of this country until last November. I have previously worked with both the Hon. Minister and the Secretary Justice. We are not strangers to each other. I know as a matter of fact that the President of the Bar Association has already developed a good working relationship with both the Hon. Minister and the Secretary-Justice. I am the only new comer to this set up. I have no problem at all working with them closely. I have already indicated that to each one of them. Suffice for me to repeat at this stage what Henry Ford, the manufacturer of Ford vehicles has once said: I quote: “Coming together is the beginning; staying together is progress; working together is success” Unquote.
All of us want to ensure that our system is changed into a more advanced system which must be advanced enough to be reccognized by all, as an efficient system in the country. In the circumstances of the
good working relationship I have already adverted to, would there be a better time than this to achieve all what we want to achieve?
None of us in these respective positions took up office to fight with the other unto death of the other.
Ladies and gentlemen, all of us are convinced that we have a common goal; but we have common enemies also: in the fore front of the enemy line, is the enemy known as corruption, then the enemy known as inefficiency, then the reluctance to deviate from existing methods, then the lack of dedication to name few of the enemies. We have to get together to defeat all these enemies. The time has come; we need to exploit it before it lapses.
In doing so, I will most welcome the guidance of the very senior members of the Bar most of whom are standing in the first few rows of this august assembly. I am mindful of the fact that some of you gentlemen were President’s Counsel even at the time I took oaths. I bow my head to you sirs, for your seniority. In the same way I expect and also call upon all the other members also to develop the culture of respecting the seniors in the Profession just in the same way that all of us respect the elders in our respective families. It would be then only that we would be able to organize ourselves as a disciplined force to ward off any challenge and tread forward.
When we talk about discipline and organization, it does not only refer to that of an individual member. It also involve the discipline and organization of each Court, each judicial Zone, each judicial district and
the judicial system as a whole. We know that on any given day in any given Court there are no of cases listed to be taken up in that Court. As a result, the Bar Table is full of lawyers some seated and some standing. But the Judge takes up only few cases.
In any case, at any given time, it would just be one case which can be taken up at any given time. All the other lawyers have to wait for their turn and that turn sometimes never comes. If you have a case in any other Court, you cannot move out of the first Court house to go to the second Court because you do not know what time the Judge would take up your case. The solution would obviously be a mechanism for fixing cases in time slots. This would be one benefit we will get when we in the very near future start walking towards digitizing the affairs of Courts. Ascertaining the progress of the moving list in Open Court of a particular Court room from your mobile phone; viewing and obtaining copies of the journal entries and proceedings in trial Courts from your lap top; and many other features would be available to the members of the profession and the litigants with the launching of the programme we have developed. Indeed the Supreme Court Registrar Hon. Aravinda Gunaratne and the Deputy Registrar Hon. Manodhi Hewawasam along with their staff members very successfully organized and displayed a demonstration to a team of experts in the presence of the Hon. Minister of Justice, the Secretary Justice and the President of the Bar Association yesterday evening. I could not believe that I have such a capable and efficient staff in the Supreme Court Registry.
Most of the other countries which deliver quality justice have automated their administration of Justice systems. There is no reason as to why we should not. The Government is prepared to provide funds; other relevant stake holders are ready to assist. Then why is not happening? Simply because we are not taking the initiative. In the context of electronic era, if we do not adopt these systems, we will not be able to upgrade the quality of administering justice in this country; we will not be able to manage time; the litigants will not be able to save big amounts of money spent for paper work; and we will not be able to enjoy doing many things relevant to our profession from the computer itself without having to go out of our chambers.
I will fast-track the digitization of the Court system through out the country. That is what the BASL wants; that is what the Hon. Minister wants; that is what the Government wants; that is what the litigants want. If you want different results, start making different choices. If we keep doing what we are currently doing, we are surely going to keep getting what we are getting. If you want something you have never had, then you have got to do something you have never done.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us hold hands together and proceed with this endeavor. This will also eradicate, the persisting problems of Laws Delays and corruption in some court registries in this country. Such a system will enhance efficiency and productivity which would ultimately lead to the achievement of an efficient system of administration of justice. After
all people will chose litigation as a means of settling their disputes only if that process is clear, just, speedy and economical.
I functioned as the President of the Court of Appeal in the year 2018. During that time the Court of Appeal was successful in disposing a considerable number of cases. The credit must necessarily go to all the judges of the Court of Appeal who worked hard at that time, and the learned members from both the official and unofficial Bar, who also worked hard in filing pleadings etc in time, appearing in morning and afternoon sessions continuously and assisted Court, to dispose such number of cases. Some of the Judges who worked with me in the Court of Appeal are now with me in the Supreme Court. It is the same set of counsel who appear and assist this Court as well. They are still vigorous as the vigor can be. I will with all of them along with my other brothers in the Supreme Court who are equally vigorous, will work together to bring our profession to its deserved place in the society.
If we are more interested in postponing cases and leave the court room empty by 12 noon that may also be possible in this system. But whom are we going to serve? What is the service we render? Whom are we going to convince? And convince with what? On the other hand, who will commend us? Who will appreciate us? Who will praise us? Who will depend on us? Who will recognize us? Who will file cases before us? Answer is nobody. People in this country are intelligent.
In the field of law, the first considerable experience I acquired is from the Attorney General’s Department by serving as a State Counsel and
then as a Senior State Counsel. That experience was undoubtedly the foundation on which I stood to face the challenges as a Judge of the High Court. Thus, I owe a debt of gratitude to that institution. On the last day when I left the AG’s Department to travel to Ampara to take up the position there as the High Court Judge of Ampara, the AG’s Department gave me a farewell. In my fare well speech I quoted a phrase from chapter IX of Dhamma Pada. Let me quote that again before I finish:
(I QUOTE) Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from evil actions.
The world becomes evil not because it is full of evil people, but because of those who do not take action against evil people. (UNQUOTE) Before I conclude let me leave with you two more quotations. The first one is a Latin phrase “Qui Parcit nocentibus innocentibus punit” which means that He who spares the guilty punishes the innocent.
The second is a phrase which Dr. Martin Luther King has said some time ago: I quote : We shall have to repent in this generation not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
I did not come from a lawyer family. soon after passing out from the Law College I didn’t know what I should do thereafter. It was at that time, that I got the opportunity do my apprenticeship in the chambers of Mr. Faisz Musthapha PC. I subsequently continued in his chambers as a
junior lawyer for a short duration of time until the Attorney General’s Department picked me up as a State Counsel. Simultaneously it was late Mr. Ranjit Abeysuriya PC who taught me the basics of Criminal law as a result of which I did not have much difficulty in facing the challenges in the work in the AG’s department. I make use of this opportunity to extend my sincere gratitude to both of them.
It is correct to say that our role in the legal profession would immensely contribute to the quality of the rule of law in the country. We have to uphold, protect and further strengthen the respect, dignity and the value of this noble profession and ensure that it is taken safely to the hands of our next generation so that our next generation will be able to then pass it to the hands of their successors. It would be our duty protect this profession until our next generation takes it over from us.
“Judges are made in heaven”. I thank God for giving me wisdom from heaven, guiding me through out my life and the lives of all members of my family and thereafter making me a judge and now making me the Chief Justice.
I also make use of this opportunity to thank His excellency the President of the Republic for nominating me to be appointed as the 49th Chief Justice of the country and the members of the Constitutional Council for granting their concurrence for this appointment.
I also wish to appreciate the support I continue to receive from my wife Sepalika in all what I have done. Indeed it was because she looked after all the household affairs that I could freely function as a judge all these years. I also thank my elder son Damithu and his wife shennel and my
younger son Chamath and his fiancé Hithaishi for all the assistance given to me from time to time. Indeed none of them complained against my lack of participation in family matters as they readily understood that my dedication of time has always been for the benefit and betterment of the people in this country.
I pay my gratitude to my late Father and my Mother. I also extend my gratitude to my wife’s parents and all the other members of my and my wife’s families too.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I wholeheartedly appreciate your presence here in this morning and thank you for participating in this ceremonial sitting.
May all the divine powers be with you. Have a great day! Thank you!