The Attorney General’s Department has informed the Parliament Sectoral Oversight Committee on Anti-Corruption and the Media that there will be 10,000 indictments filed on charges of corruption, fraud and other crimes by December 31 this year.
The Attorney General’s Department has also informed the Committee that they have filed 7,800 indictments within the first eight months of the year, parliamentary sources told the Sunday Observer.
Meanwhile, the officials of the Ministry of Mass Media and Information had conveyed to the Committee that a new law has been drafted regarding the issuance of licences to private television and radio stations, which is due to be presented to the Cabinet for approval. It was further decided to review the Anti-Corruption Bill at the Committee’s next hearing.
This information was bared at the Committee meeting in the Parliament complex chaired by President’s Counsel MP Dr. Jayampathy Wickramarathne on October 23, 2019, the sources said.
Minister Rauf Hakeem, Deputy Minister Karunarathna Paranawithana, MPs Ali Zahir Moulana and M.A.Sumanthiran along with representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Mass Media, Judicial Service Commission and Bar Association of Sri Lanka, participated.
The Committee also proposed to increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court from 11 to 15 and suggested that the delays in court proceedings are an issue which needs a thorough investigation. The sources said progress on the proposal to accept officials of the Attorney General’s Department and the Legal Draftsman’s Department as a separate legal service presented to the Committee was taken into consideration. The Committee requested that the related matters be expedited.
Attention was also drawn to setting up of a separate service inclusive of legal professionals working in other Government departments as well. Committee Chairman Dr. Jayampathy Wickramarathne informed the parties concerned to introduce a pilot project to automate the judicial system.
The Chairman advised to start the work by early 2020. The pilot project will be implemented with a selected District Court, a Magistrate Court and a High Court.