(by Susitha R. Fernando)

Chief Justice Asoka de Silva said that the public should have the right to information and be able to question ministers on what they do. The CJ made the statements at the launch of the ‘Justice’ magazine by the Ministry of Justice, which was held at the Supreme Court complex at Hulftsdorp today.

He pointed out that the legislature would have to provide transparency with regard to the transactions of the government and keep the Ministers under obligation to be answerable to what they do.

“It is pertinent to note that the public should have the right to information which is called access to information. When the public can have the right to information it can avoid lot of criticism because when there is access to information there is transparency of the transactions that are taking place,” CJ Asoka de Silva said.

Referring to the previous attempts to introduce legislature with regard to the right to free information CJ stated that the attempts to introduce legislature for this were failed and the draft lies inactive since 2005. 

“The Law Reform Commission in 2001 proposed that free access to information. This was approved by the Cabinet in 2003 but was not passed in the parliament. However in 2005 again a draft legislature was considered by the Law Reform Commission and it is still at that stage,” CJ said.

“This draft places certain obligations on the ministers for freedom of information. A minister is duty bound to notify the public, of the work that they are doing, from time to time. It also requires a minister to appoint a press officer to provide information to the public,“ the CJ added.

Minister Milinda Moragoda, who also addressed the gathering, said that the magazine would create a platform for healthy debate on legal and policy issues, and educate the public on legal matters. He appreciated the work done by Mr. Lalith Allahakoon as editor of the magazine.

Speaking at the occasion, Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara said that the legal system in the island could be traced back to ancient times. He said the revived magazine, in its first issue, had created a debate on enforcing capital punishment in Sri Lanka.

The ceremonial re-launch of Justice magazine was held at the Supreme Court Complex, under the patronage of Chief Justice J. A. N. Silva.

‘Justice’ was originally founded by Justice Dr. A. R. B. Amarasinghe, a former judge of the Supreme Court, and released in 1983. The magazine has been revived by an editorial team headed by the founder editor of ‘Daily Mirror’, Mr. Lalith Allahakoon, after a lapse of several years. The Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Organization of Migrants (IOM) have sponsored the magazine.