LAC thanks President for magnanimous gesture

Sarath Malalasekera

The Legal Aid Commission (LAC) at a special meeting held recently in Colombo unanimously resolved to communicate a message of appreciation and gratitude to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for allocating Rs. 10 million, needed to maintain the Legal Aid Centres in Tsunami affected areas including Akkaraipattu, Balapitiya, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalmunai, Kalutara and Trincomalee.

An agreement between the Project Monitoring Unit of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and LAC comes to an end this month.

Funds allocated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa would enable the LAC to maintain the 11 Legal Aid Centres in areas where an estimated 35,000 persons were drowned, 100,000 dwellings destroyed and over 500,000 persons displaced.

Legal recovery of Tsunami survivors is a long term process and the LAC would now be able to continue the rehabilitation work with the financial support allocated to it by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Legal Aid Commission established under Law No.27 of 1978 comprises nine Commissioners, six of whom are elected by the Bar Council of Sri Lanka and the remaining three nominated by the Minister of Justice and Law Reforms.

The LAC currently Comprises Chairman S.S. Wijeratne with Commissioners President's Counsel Manohara de Silva, Senior Attorneys at Law Upali Gooneratne, Rohan Sahabandu, Swarna Perera and Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms Lilanthi de Silva, who functions as the Secretary to the Commission.

All Commissioners including the LAC Chairman work on a voluntary basis without any remunerations, said LAC Chairman Wijeratne.