Untitled - International Commission of Jurists

Attorney General in the Richard de Zoysa case. Batty Weerakoon, the lawyer
appearing for de Zoysa, severely castigated the then Attorney General for refusing to
take steps against the police officer identified by de Zoysa’s mother as having been
responsible for the abduction of her son. 470 Weerakoon also analysed in detail the
manner in which Parliament had been misled in this context as a result of a report
presented by the Attorney General to the then Justice Minister. 471 Similarly, sharp
criticisms have been advanced by the Liberal Party. 472 Yet another well-known
example is the alleged role of Attorney General officers in covering up the inquiry
into the massacre of prisoners at the Welikada prisons. 473
As remarked by a former Acting Attorney General who went on to become a member
of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, despite the theoretical independence with which it is
traditionally cloaked, the office of the Attorney General has always been under threat
from the political executive.
It has been our experience that every administration wishes the judgments of
the court to be in its favour. Perhaps we cannot fault politicians for this, But
the Attorney General should be able to advise the Executive and explain the
legal basis of most judgments which have gone against the State. When I was
Acting Attorney General, I was asked by the President whether the Supreme
Court could review a Cabinet decision and whether a particular judgment was
right. I sent him a letter defending the Supreme Court judgment, in the context
it was given. Perhaps the Attorney General is no longer free or strong enough
to advise the Executive. But this will not give a licence to Executive or
Members of Parliament to make insinuations against the judgments of the
court or to offer advice to judges at public functions as to how they may
discharge their duty […] I have observed a gradual decline in the
independence of the officers of the Attorney General's Department. They are
unable to tender correct advice to the State for fear of incurring the displeasure
of the executive. State officers do not appear to accept the Attorney General's
advice. The cause of this situation is the fear psychosis created by
politicization. 474
A further observation was made by a state prosecutor, later High Court judge, during
the course of drafting this report.
It is sad to note that the Attorney General did not act impartially during the
late ‘80’s especially in habeas corpus applications made on behalf of the
disappeared. It is well known that the Attorney General’s Department had a
special ‘unit’ to handle habeas corpus applications, set up by the Attorney
General when he was heading the criminal section. To the outside world, it
was to enable a systematic and quick job of work. The unit had handpicked
470 Weerakoon, Batty, op. cit, at p. 13.
471 ibid, at p. 17. Somewhat ironically, Weerakoon later became the Minister of Justice during the
Kumaratunge administration for a brief period.
472 Amaratunge, Chanaka and Wijesinha, Rajiva, op.cit.
473 University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), ‘From Welikade to Mutur and Pottuvil: A
Generation of Moral Denudation and the Rise of Heroes with Feet of Clay,’ Special Report, No. 25,
2007.
474 Kulatunge, KMMB, ‘Disorder in Sri Lanka,’ Gunasena Publishers, Colombo, 2001, at p. 24.
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