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have been adjourned by the relevant High Court judge for weeks. 551 In instances
where trial is by a judge sitting alone, due to the large number of cases to be heard,
the witnesses are not given sufficient time to record their statements and are required
to attend court on several occasions.
Quite often the adjournment between two trial dates where the same witness
gives testimony can range from a couple of months to even to two years. Also,
it is usual for differences in testimony to occur due to forgetfulness as a result
of long delays and this leads inevitably to acquittals. 552
Delays are also occasioned by the lackadaisical nature of prosecutions as well as by
the failure of other government departments, such as the Government Analyst’s
Department, to submit necessary reports to court on time. 553 This shortcoming was
illustrated in the Kumarapuram Case even after the lapse of two years. The long delay
in the Chemmani Case examined above is another illustration of such delayed trial
processes. Indeed, the long pending nature of such prosecutions, which can amount to
up to several years, has been a prevalent feature from the 1980’s onwards. 554 Delay in
the trial process is a major reason for acquittals in prosecutions of grave human rights
violations.
The delayed prosecutorial process in such cases is contrasted with other instances
where the prosecutorial and the judicial systems have functioned with remarkable
speed. This is exemplified in the manner in which the respective trials into the
shooting of a High Court judge and the shooting of a torture victim on 21 November
2004 were conducted. (The killing of the first victim occurred coincidentally two days
prior to the killing of the second victim.) The trial concerning the assassination of
Judge Sarath Ambepitiya was conducted day-to-day before a trial-at-bar, consequent
to immediate police investigations and apprehension of the suspects, and was
concluded within seven months (the accused were found guilty and the convictions
were upheld on appeal). In contrast, the indictments against the suspects in the killing
of the torture victim, Gerald Perera was only issued after the lapse of several months
and the murder trial is still pending. 555
7.3. Judicial approaches in acquittal cases
This section focuses on some stark contrasts historically in the willingness of the
judiciary to convict in cases such as Bindunuwewa, discussed above. 556 In that case,
the Supreme Court overturned the High Court conviction of the accused. This
example appears to be part of a pattern that prevailed across many High Court cases,
in which there is a tendency to acquit where enforced disappearances are alleged, and
551 de Silva, Samith, op. cit.
552 ibid.
553 Delays in this instance are commonly attributed to lack of resources.
554 Amnesty International, ‘Sri Lanka; An Assessment of the Human Rights Situation’, AI Index,
ASA/37/1/93, 1993, at p. 3.
555 Pinto-Jayawardena, Kishali ‘The Rule of Law in Decline; Study on Prevalence, Determinants and
Causes of Torture and other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Sri
Lanka’, The Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) Denmark, 2009.
556 See section 3.7, Chapter Two, above (Illustrative Cases).
155