SUNIL JAYASIRI 
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Prez, PM or Justice Minister can’t intervene in judicial matters
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, responding to remarks made by Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera, said today that neither the President, Prime Minister nor the Justice Minister had powers to intervene in judicial matters.
He said the possibility of appointing a special court had been discussed in the Cabinet and added that the Attorney General had also given written advice to the government on the matter.
“We are acting on the advice of the Attorney General,” the minister said.
He said the government was given a mandate in January 2015 to ensure an independent judicial system in the country and added that independent commissions were set up under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution to uphold the independence of the judiciary under Yahapalanaya principles.
“The judiciary and the Attorney General’s department act as independent institutions today. The Attorney General’s Department has the complete independence to act on the reports given by the police on their investigations based on the principles accepted by the world,” he said.
Minister Rajapakshe said in a video posted on his Facebook that, according to the Constitution, the judiciary and the AG’s department were functioning on two basic principles such as equality before law and the accused is considered not guilty until he is convicted by a court of law.
The Minister said no one who had read the Constitution at least once would make allegations against him and added that if someone doing so was only exhibiting his ignorance before the world.
“We can do nothing than pity the people who make such allegations. Some politicians who come before the media and television cameras try to show they are “Mahoshadas” but the viewers know they are actually playing the role of “Kewattayas”, he said.
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