President’s statement a threat to SC & judicial system – BASL

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) issued a statement today reaffirming its commitment to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding judicial independence.

This comes in response to a recent statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament yesterday, regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Gender Equality Bill.

The BASL reiterated that the President’s statement is a threat to the Supreme Court and the entire judicial system in discharging the judicial functions conferred by the Constitution.

The BASL maintained that establishing a parliamentary select committee to review the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of a Bill would set a dangerous precedent.

The BASL strongly viewed that recent parliamentary statement by President Ranil Wickremesinghe referring to ‘Judicial Cannibalism’ and suggesting the formation of a select committee to review the Supreme Court’s determination as attempts to undermine judicial independence and force through a Bill that has been decided to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

The full statement of the BASL is as follows :