Legal and judicial matters :

SL, Iran discuss exchanging info

Sri Lanka and Iran discussed the possibility of exchanging information regarding legal and judicial matters. Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem who met the Head of Iran’s Judiciary Branch Ayatolla Larijani in Teheran on Sunday also recalled the relationship between the two countries in the fields of law development and politics.

Both countries are members of the Non - Aligned Movement. Larijani said the law in Iran dates back to thousands of years and they have a rich and vibrant Islamic legal culture.

Hakeem said in Sri Lanka, the body of law consists of a mixture of English common law, Roman Dutch law and the country’s own laws.

The minister said Muslims in Sri Lanka are governed by specific laws based on Sharia on matters relating to marriage, divorce and succession.

He explained the successful implementation of mediation boards which has taken lot of burden off the Judiciary and has also offered an inexpensive dispute resolution mechanism to the ordinary people.

The minister said about 60 percent of disputes are settled through mediation boards.

Hakeem said Chinese and Nepalese authorities expressed a keen interest in the system. The minister said all mediators voluntarily extend their service.

The minister said Sri Lanka was willing to share experience with Iranian official about the mediation process. The two also discussed Human Rights issues. They noted that both countries have cooperated on Human Rights issues in the world forum. They discussed double standards and discriminatory practices adopted by certain countries on Human Rights violations.Minister Hakeem returned to the country yesterday.