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| Tuesday, 13 January 2004 |
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by Sarath Malalasekera The Bench and the Bar welcomed the new President of the Court of Appeal Justice Nissanka K. Udulagama and two new Court of Appeal Judges, Justice Chandra Ekanayake and Justice S. I. Imam at a special ceremonial sitting of the Court of Appeal yesterday. Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC, and Vice President, Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Ikram Mohamed PC made welcome speeches at the ceremonial sitting. Associated on the Bench with the new President of the Court of Appeal Justice N. K. Udulagama were Justice Nimal E. Dissanayake, Justice Raja Fernando, Justice Nimal Gamini Amaratunga, Justice Chandaradasa Nanayakkara, Justice Andrew M. Somawansa, Justice Jagath Balapatebendi, Justice P. Wijeratne, Justice K. Sripavan, Justice Gamini A. L. Abeyratne, Justice Chandra Ekanayake and Justice S. I. Imam. High Court Judges, Judges of the District Court and Colombo Chief Magistrate and Additional Magistrates were accommodated on the dais. Registrar of the Court of Appeal Ms. M. M. Jayasekera and Deputy Registrar Sanath Pinnaduwa officiated. Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ramanathan, President's Counsel, members of the new Judges and senior and junior members of the Official and the Unofficial Bar were among the distinguished gathering at the ceremonial sitting. The new President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Nissanka K. Udulagama said that innovations to cull older cases other methods to enable this court to dispose of the backlog to ensure speedy justice has always been the aim of judges, the Bar and the staff to the ultimate benefit of the litigant. However, to achieve complete success other connected institutions need to play their role. 'This court for instance has a cadre of one Registrar- Ms. M. M. Jayasekera, and two deputies. Of the deputies one has been on interdiction since last October without replacement. The other deputy Registrar was promoted to the Supreme Court without replacement three months ago. This lapse on the part of the authorities to fill the vacancies when they occur has effectively frustrated the intention to have the Registrar dispose of the mention role as she is already overburdened with other duties that in normal circumstances would have been the task of the two deputies, the Court of Appeal President said. Court of Appeal President N. K. Udulagama said "It is with deep humility and gratitude that I accept the most gracious accolades expressed this morning. It is of course customary and certainly a part of our courts' rich traditions that I respond when I am being so generously, courteously and warmly welcomed as President of the Court of Appeal by the representatives of both the official and unofficial Bar. It is indeed my privilege and distinct pleasure to deliver a short address to this August assembly. "Ceremonial sittings I am inclined to believe are for the purpose of the expression of human dignity and I firmly believe that our professional existence would indeed be poorer without them. Your presence in such large numbers obviously signifies your approval of it," Justice Udulagama said. "I wasn't sure I deserved such praise or approval but almost four and half years later as an appellate court judge I have strived to uphold the high expectations in the matter of serving the cause of justice mindful of the fact that although we judge others finally it is the others who judge us, specifically as to the manner in which we discharge our obligations and duties as judges." "Indeed it has been a long haul from 1976, as a Magistrate to climb the ladder and reach this position after 28 years, of which 24 years were in the outstations. I sincerely hope I have been able during my career as a judicial officer to act with judicial propriety that was beyond reproach as each individual judge needs to shape his or her career as a judge and act with such judicial propriety that is beyond reproach as parameters of judicial rectitude must necessarily be so shaped by individual judges themselves. My predecessor Justice Shiranee Thilakawardena who was recently elevated to the Supreme Court, started a process of identifying appeals that clogged the system. Attempts were made to list the older appeals and those deficient in a peremptory list. The now popular Breakfast Court came into being with the intention of relieving judges of having to dispose of a lengthy Mention List thereby enabling the latter to commence Arguments straight away with the ultimate aim of empowering the Registrar of the Court in due course to dispose of the Mention matters. It was also the intention to establish a third DC finals court to dispose of the huge backlog there. There are 67 District Courts in the island. If you were to even unrealistically expect at least two appeals a month from each District Court this Court would receive 134 Appeals a month from the DCs. However, the number we received in November 2003 was 167 and actually higher than the expected average. Correspondingly this court was able to dispose of in the said month of November 2003 only 47 appeals, less than half the amount of institutions. It is my hope, as was that of my predecessor, that a third DC Final court would probably ensure a faster disposal of DC appeals which form the bulk of the backlog. Although not answer to the problem as statistics show 10271 pending DC appeals as at 30th November 2003 within limited resources a third DC Final court is the next best alternative. On a brighter side thankfully there is no backlog in, the Writ Court, the CCA or the Application Court. "Speaking for myself, I have always held the belief, contrary to the common perception that only the judges and the lawyers are responsible for the laws delays, that one could not overcome the perils of laws delays without the active participation of all the stakeholders involved in the administration of justice in particular. The state which is exclusively tasked with the infrastructure of the judicial system. "However we do not need to despair. Computerization has begun. A case tracking system has been put into effect. We could expect better accountability in case load management. We also hear, although rather vaguely of the intended establishment of provincial Courts of Appeal which exercise if put into practice could no doubt effectively and drastically reduce the DC final role in this court consisting of appeals mostly from the provincial courts. "Whilst hopefully awaiting the fulfilment of our expectations for an improved infrastructure with the needed staff and importantly with the continued goodwill and cooperation from the Bar I am certain that a much improved case flow management system could be achieved.In conclusion may I take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you present here this morning and also those who sent me messages of congratulations and expressions of felicitations and those who personally offered their good wishes on my appointment. "I also thank the honourable judges of the original courts for gracing this occasion," the New CA President added. |
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