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Penal Code amendments and justice

President Kumaratunga's announcement that legislation would be speedily brought in to amend the Penal Code of the country to facilitate the swift administration of justice, is bound to raise public hopes of an early end to the spiralling crime rate.

The principal limitations of the present administration of justice system, as outlined by the President, which need to be eliminated forthwith are: Laws Delays, lack of decentralization of the judicial administrative structure and restricted amenities for lawyers, judicial officers and the public.

The new courts complex declared open by the President in Kandy recently, during which she made these points, to a degree, meets the second need. But much more needs to be done to decentralize the administration of justice system.

The burning issue from the point of view of litigants and the general public is Laws Delays. Justice delayed is much more than justice denied because public confidence in the administration of justice system is greatly eroded when Laws Delays plague the structure. Accordingly our hope is that the contemplated amendments to the Penal Code would target Laws Delays in particular and see an end to them.

We need hardly say that crumbling public confidence in the justice system could sow the seeds of anarchy. A pointer to this is the tendency on the part of some sections to take the law into their own hands and to challenge the authority of the police.

As we write, another Christian church has been torched in a Colombo suburb. This issue of religious intolerance and hatred is not directly connected to the problem of Laws Delays, but displays the degree to which society is being brutalized and rendering itself inhuman as a result of resorting to violence to end conflicts.

The perception that violations of law and order could be carried out with impunity contributes towards strengthening this problem. Accordingly, we call on the President to strengthen her efforts to end religious intolerance and hatred which could completely ruin Lankan society and its civilizational base. We repeat that those behind the attacks on these churches should be speedily brought to justice to ensure that democracy and freedom continue to breathe and live in Sri Lanka.

The authorities need to ensure that those tampering with the due process of law are also brought to justice. The prime culprits in this connection are politicians and unless and until their interference in the maintenance of the law ends, we do not see how the judicial system could be reformed.

At this juncture the public would be serving the national interest by peacefully stressing the need for these law reforms. Public pressure is an important catalyst that needs to be present.

When the Earth shudders

We experience tremors within as we hear the various criminal acts committed around the country. Those are mainly mental tremors. But what about the physical ones, which can literally shake us to the core ?

Residents along the coastal belt experienced such a tremor on Sunday night. Experts believe it could have originated from a place 300 kilometres southwestern coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. According to reports, there is a hi-activity epicentre located within this area.

This challenges the notion that Sri Lanka is in an entirely tremor and earthquake free zone. It is true that Sri Lanka has not experienced a major earthquake or tremor for nearly 400 years. The last 'big one', in 1614, killed 2,000 people. Since then, over 60 tremors of different intensity have been recorded.

Several minor tremors had been recorded during the last few years. Geologists are expressing concern over the reported incidents of tremors and their heightened pace in the recent past.

One need not describe in detail the massive destructive power of a major earthquake. Several countries were devastated by such earthquakes during the last few years. These include some of our neighbouring countries.

Therefore, we cannot be complacent. We must expect the unexpected and prepare for the worst. The first action that the authorities must take is acquiring advanced equipment for detecting earthquakes and tremors.

They may be costly, but worth every cent in the current scenario. The areas that may be vulnerable to earthquakes must be identified.

The authorities must also educate the masses on any actions they can take if an earthquake or major tremor occurs. Earthquake and tremor resistance must be factored in when issuing building permits. Our engineers must study such buildings in earthquake-prone countries and adopt those design elements.

Nevertheless, no country in the world has perfected a method or an instrument to predict earthquakes with any kind of accuracy. Some scientists believe that certain animals indicate an oncoming earthquake through quirky behaviour, but it is not always possible to rely on such unscientific methods.

Until a technological breakthrough makes it possible to predict earthquakes at least several hours in advance, our best hope lies in early detection of geological shifts and the adoption of precautionary measures.

www.Pathmaconstruction.com

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