Plans to recruit Attorneys as ASPs

I refer to the news item under the above headline in the Daily News on February 26, 2011.

Developed countries such as USA has a very efficient system of State Attorneys and Magistrates mediating to conduct criminal investigations right from the beginning. In this regard the AG’s Department may have a District Office in each district under the supervision of a District Attorney who would supervise investigations. It is not ideal to recruit Attorneys-at-Law as ASPs which ultimately bear the same result due to obvious reasons. The AG’s Department could be expanded.

However, an Attorney-at-Law is a profession of an advisory and independent nature that requires thorough learning once enrolled. The status of the profession is being downgraded on many fronts. The latest being the salary anomaly created in the PA Circular No 6 of 2006.

All Attorneys-at-Law recruited to the public service were being paid one basic salary from the time of Colonial Masters. Assistant State Attorneys and legal officers of the Ministries and Departments were recruited on the same qualification of being an Attorney-at-Law.

The reasons were its unique advisory and independent nature and non-availability of promotions to various posts as in the case of members of Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS).

The National Salaries and Cadres Commission has categorized law professionals into two viz under circular 06/2006 paying one category, a basic salary of Rs 28,280 and others Rs 22,220 along with executive officers who are recruited to the SLAS without any training from graduates and those who have more than 10 years service in the Management Assistants’ Service.

They do not belong to an independent profession.

Attorneys-at-Law in the Ministries and Departments though now categorized as executive officers are not entitled to promotions given to SLAS officers. The legal officers are too made to sit the Efficiency Bars applicable to SLAS officers under the said Circular which has never been the case hitherto.

The reason for such downgrading is said to be because there are enough Attorneys-at-Law in Sri Lanka. A profession may be full of people. But when recruiting, candidates with integrity, good learning and professional quality should be selected.

Categorization of Lawyers as Law Officers and Legal Officers is irrational. State Attorneys prepare briefs for the State Counsel similarly legal officers attend to legal work in the Ministries and Departments although the latter do not prepare briefs they are too instructing attorneys.

Recruitment of lawyers to the public service requires one and the same basic qualification. It is a sheer discrimination against Lawyers to divide them into two categories under the said circular which to the minds of the intelligent and the learned cannot be justified at all.

Ranjith Rodrigo

Waskaduwa