No legal barrier to appoint five judges to Court of Appeal: Chief Justice

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera   
Clarifying the allegations made by Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya has said five judges of the High Court who were nominated to the Court of Appeal had not been appointed so far whereas there is no legal obstacle to appoint them as per the interim stay order by the Supreme Court.   

In a letter to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardhane, the Chief Justice said one of the vacancies of the Supreme Court could also have been filled before the interim stay order issued by the Supreme Court on 30, April 2024.   
He said two vacancies in the Supreme Court occurred on November 15, 2023 and March 1, 2024 respectively and that the interim stay order was issued on April 30, 2024 following an issue regarding the vacancy created in 15 November, 2024.   

He said the second vacancy which was created on March 1, 2024 could have been filled before the interim stay order which was issued on April 30, 2024.   
The Chief Justice also said interim stay order has no legal barrier to appoint five judges to the Court of Appeal and that the appointments have not been made as yet.   
He said in the letter that it is the responsibility of all sections to ensure independent functioning of the legislature and the judiciary as per the Constitution.   
In the letter, the Chief Justice said it is essential to act with restraint and respect for the well-being of the public and the supremacy of the law.   
The Chief Justice in his letter clarified the allegations made by the Justice Minister in Parliament on June 19, 2024 and the written complaint made by the Minister to the Speaker over serious violation of privileges.   
In observations by the Judicial Services Commission Secretariat, the Chief Justice as the Chairman of the JSC said Justice Minister Rajapakshe had criticized the actions of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) only based on information received by him even without confirming the information from the JSC.   
The Chief Justice said in the letter that the Judicial Services Commission secretariat was functioning in temporary premises which had been formed with containers since the end of 2017 and that the commission was short staffed due to shortage of space.   
The letter said the investigations by the JSC were conducted only with the support of two investigation officials and that there was no proper place even to record a statement from an individual.   
He also said no approval or allocation of funds have been made to recruit 1,500 vacant judicial employees for 2024 and 2025.   
The letter by the Judicial Services Commission Secretariat said that the JSC had commenced investigations into the allegations made by the Minister such as into the incident of obtaining power to the Mount Lavinia District Court’s official residence from the Mount Lavinia Judicial Complex, reducing time of the fingerprint machine of the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court by 30 minutes and misplacing of a stock of Whisky at the Judicial product rook at the Colombo Chief Magistrate Complex.