Features | Online edition of Daily News

Language is crucial in formulation of laws and administering justice to the people. The people on whose behalf the laws are formulated by the people's representatives should understand the laws enacted on their behalf.

Similarly, when the laws are administered by independent judges and law enforcement authorities, the people should understand the procedures and process of the courts.

Sri Lanka’s first ever seminar on Oldest Old” was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute Auditorium. Here Chairman of the Legal Aid Commission S. S. Wijeratne lighting the traditional oil lamp in the presence of the Chairperson, National Elders Council Viji Jegarasasingham, UNFPA Representative and Elders Council Member Leel Gunasekera and others. Picture by W. H. Chandradasa

Languages of the people should be the language of courts and administration of laws. In Sri Lanka's case, the language of judicial process should be Sinhala and Tamil as provided in the Chapter IV of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Any attempt to deny or to subvert the language rights of the people is both unconstitutional and illegal. Until early 1970, language of courts and the legal education was English, the language of the British Colonial rulers. The access to justice to the ordinary people speaking only Sinhala and Tamil was not fully available.

The people did not directly understand what was happening in courts to them and their rights. There was a major political cry to change this perverse situation and the Sinhala and Tamil was gradually introduced as courts languages, nearly thirty years ago.

The Legal Aid Commission as the statutory provider of access to justice to all deserving persons consider constitutional provisions to use Sinhala and Tamil as languages of courts as a fundamental step in providing access to justice to all.

Even though, language provisions have not been fully implemented specially in respect of certain special interest sectors and the work in superior courts, a commendable progress had been made during the past three decades. Members of judiciary and legal profession, specially in the outstations show extreme competency and admirable proficiency in Sinhala and Tamil as the languages of courts. Many books on legal subjects have been published specially in Sinhala, thus increasing the legal awareness of the general public, the main stakeholders of justice.

Legal education is the nursery in which equal access to justice for all is nurtured. Academic legal education in Sri Lanka is imparted by the law faculties in the Universities. The professional legal education is the monopoly of the independent Council of Legal Education established in 1874.

The Council of Legal Education in 1970, in anticipation of the transition to Sinhala and Tamil and language of the courts, commenced law teaching in Sinhala and Tamil at Law College.

As could be expected privileged legal elite opposed the transition on false and flimsy grounds such as absence of law teachers and books in national languages and absence of suitable words in Swabasha for English and Latin legal phrases. All these real and unfounded challenges were overcome due to determination of Ministry of Justice and the devotion of group of young lawyers who were proficient in both English and National Languages. Thus language access to justice in courts was effectively supported by the medium of professional legal education.

In 2008, the Council of Legal Education has reversed the process by imposing English as the medium of instruction at the Sri Lanka Law College. It is true that under the 13th Amendment, English is a link language but the language of courts remained Sinhala and not Tamil.

This retrogressive step which was not publicly discussed will eventually result in language of the courts to be reversed to English, thus denying the effective access to justice of the overwhelming majority of Sinhala and Tamil speaking population.

Laws and justice are administered equitability to benefit the people and not to protect the economic interests of handful of elitist lawyers or the convenience of the judiciary, who in turn are selected from among the lawyers. The new Council of Legal Education may have to review the earlier decision and restore status quo anti.

The Sri Lanka Law College should remain as a professional law training institution and not converted into an experimental language laboratory.

Diploma in Commercial Arbitration

The Institute for the Development of Commercial Law & Practice (ICLP) conducts an Annual Diploma in Commercial Arbitration Program with a panel of eminent Law Lecturers.

The Course Director is S. S. Wijeratne and Chairman, Board of Examiners is Justice Saleem Marsoof releases the results of the fifth batch of the Diploma in Commercial Law and Practice. Six students obtained Merit passes and twenty seven students obtained passes.

Ms. Sharmeela Rasool, Attorney at Law topped the Batch securing a Merit Pass and won the SS. Wijeratne prize for the best student 2008/2009. Ms. Neluka Seneviratne won the Walter Laduwahetty prize for the best Award.

The others who obtained Merit passes are Ms. Chamani Prematilake, H. Suranga Jayasena, M.S.R.S. Gunarathna, S. Yogendra, H.T. Senaratne, M.P. Namal Peiris and A.P.K. Abeydeera.

S.N.R. de Samarasinghe, Nilantha Ranawaka, M.B.S. Fernando, K.P.W. Rajasiri, P.L.C. Peiris, Ms. C.P. Vidanagamage, Ms. T.M.M. Jayasekera, T.D. Wijewardena, R.R.B. Seneviratne, L.K.C. Matarage, C.P.K. Geeganage, A.W. Chandraguptha, P.R. Jayawardena, M.D. Hematha, W.K. Kodituwakku, U.G. Gunasekera, B.D.S. Kumara, M.M.P.L. Gunarathna, W.A.S. Weerasinghe, H.A. Wickramasinghe, Ms. R. Liyanapathirana, R.P.K.T.R. Perera, T. Ariyanayagam, A.W. Weliwita, Ms Neluka Seneviratne, K.A. Munasinghe, Ms. Shoba A Silva, LUD Atapattu, Edward Samarasekara, Ranjith P Ramma Waduge, Prasanna Gunawardhane, Premaratne Eluwa Handi, R.B.M. Gunawardene and Ms. Piumi Kumari obtained passes.

The Diploma Awards Ceremony will be held at 4 pm on June 26 at the BMICH Committee Room C. The Chief Guest would be J.D. Banadaranayake, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The Guest of Honour would be Hon Justice Saleem Marsoof PC.

Wayamba Sisu Vikum awards ceremony

The final competitions, poster and art exhibition of the school legal awareness program will be held on July 17 at the Kuliyapitiya Central College. The Chief Guest at the awards ceremony would be Minister of Mass Media, Information and Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa who is also a senior Attorney-at-Law at Kuliyapitiya.

The Guest of Honour would be the Governor of the North Western Province Tissa Ballalle.

Over 160 schools in the North Western Province participated in the three month old competitions in oratory, poster and essay competitions on law related subjects. Human duties and rights and law and life were some of the themes and the subject matter of the competition.

The Equal Access to Justice Project of the UNDP is a part sponsor of this program.

Diamond Jubilee

The Voet Inn 1949-2009 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee Dinner will be held at the Galadari Hotel on August 29 at 7.00 p.m.

All Voet Inners please contact: Justice Hector S Yapa - 0718 032668, S. Suntheralingam- 0777 374423, Mahinda Ekanayake -0776 066925, Chamath Jayasekara - 0773 113876 or Uthpala Adhikari - 0718 032712.

Legal Aid Book Mark Day

The Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka was established by Legal Aid Law No. 27 of 1978. The Law was certified on July 7, 1978.

The Legal Aid Commission (LAC) which provides legal assistance to deserving persons has established 49 Centers island wide with the support of the Ministry of Justice, The LAC celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008. The Legal Aid Day which falls on Sunday, July 7 will be celebrated with the Legal Aid Book Mark Day.

Question: My husband was a Senior Executive at the National Savings Bank, Colombo 3. He was in the service of the Bank for nearly 12 years - from 1982 to 1994. He retired in 1994. Since retirement he drew a pension from the Bank. He died on September 22, 2008. Now as his widow, I should be entitled to his pension. However, the bank has informed me that I am not entitled to any pension. I have no income at all and am in dire straits.

I shall be grateful if you will take this matter up with the National Savings Bank and assist me to obtain a pension.

Answer: When we referred your matter to the National Savings Bank, we were informed by the Bank that it has still not introduced a W&OP scheme to its staff. Therefore, you will not be entitled to your husband's scheme.

Affidavit attested by a commissioner for oaths - Is this valid?

Question: I am a regular reader of the legal pages appearing in the CDN and Thinakaran. My thanks are to the LAC Office, Batticaloa who have displayed these pages in their office.

Your 'Legal Aid' (Questions & Answers) is a very useful book, especially to laymen. My thanks to E. Kandasamy, Project Coordinator, LAC Batticaloa who was good enough to lend me a copy of this book.

"Usually, affidavits are attested by Justices of the Peace. The question is whether affidavits attested by Commissioners for Oaths are valid for official purposes".

How best could I dispose of my body for the benefit of another after my demise?

Question: Your advice on the fundamental of law is greatly appreciated and commendable. I am nearly 80 years of age - no problems, hale and hearty. Please tell me how best I could dispose of my body for the benefit of another after my demise. Please advice me.

Answer: As per your wish, you can donate your body to the Medical Faculty after your death. In the first instance you must appoint a next of kin. Thereafter, a request letter has to be sent to the Medical Faculty to the following address together with a self addressed samped envelope:-

On receipt of your letter, the Faculty will send you the relevant application forms for completion. If you wish to, you can visit the above department during working hours and collect the application forms personally. Necessary instructions are given as to how the application form should be completed.

Authentication of documents

Question: My sister wants to certify her Marriage, Birth and other Educational certificates in Sri Lanka. Please let me know the procedure to authenticate these documents for foreign education and employment purposes. Please help me.

Answer: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a Consular Division which authenticates Birth/ Marriage/ Death certificates, along with educational and other certificates to be forwarded to foreign countries. The authentication of documents is one of the main functions of this division and the importance of the subject has grown largely with the advent of Government policy to promote foreign policy to Sri Lankans.

* Documents are accepted for attestation from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the attested documents are returned to the owners from 10.30 a.m. time to time calling the token numbers through the Public Addressing System.

* The documents should be handed over to the Consular Division by the applicant. If the applicant in abroad, he/she can authorize another person, who should bring a copy of the relevant page of the passport of the applicant and a letter of authorization, in which the name and the National Identity Card Number of the authorized person are mentioned.

* Only the documents that are written in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Arabic are attested.

* Only the translations done by sworn translators are attested and the sworn translator should clearly mention on his/her letterhead or the seal/stamp, the languages in which he is authorized to do the translations. When a Sinhala or Tamil or English document is translated into Arabic, the particulars of the original document should be mentioned in English in the document that has been translated into Arabic.

* When the authenticity of a document has to be confirmed before attestation and the specimen signature required for the attestation of a document is not available, the document is forwarded to the relevant authority for verification for which a period of about 3 weeks is necessary.

* Letters addressed to the Ambassadors and diplomatic officers of foreign countries, various institutions in foreign countries etc. are not attested. The documents should be in the form "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN". Also the letters/documents regarding the obtaining of visas for foreign countries are not attested.

Deeds/titles, bank statements, appointment letters, defamatory documents, etc. are not attested.

1. Certificates of Birth, Marriage and Death The original certificate should be forwarded for attestation: Photostat copies are not attested.

2. Civil status: A statement signed by the Grama Niladhari and countersigned by the Divisional Secretary. An affidavit from the parent/guardian.

3. Dependency, REsidence, Family Unit certiciates: A Statement signed by the Grama Niladhari and countersigned by the Divisional Secretary.

4. Police clearance certificates and other police reports: The certificate issued by the OIC of the police station countersigned by the ASP and the original receipt for the payment for the report. (for the reports signed by the DIG, the receipt for the payment is not required).

5. Power of Attorney and other such legal documents: These documents should be countersigned by the Registrar of the Sri Lanka Supreme Court.

6. Affidavits: Affidavits should be countersigned by the Ministry of Justice of Sri Lanka.

The address is as follows - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic Building, Colombo 01,

How to obtain a certified copy of birth certificate?

Question: My sister was born in Italy. Her birth had been registered at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Italy. Now my sister is living with me in Sri Lanka.

Please let me know how to get a certified copy of my sister's Birth Certificate.

Answer: You have to get the B 63 Application Form from the Divisional Secretary's Office. After completion, it could be sent by hand/or registered post to the following address.

Uncancelled stamps to the relevant value should be affixed in payment of charges. If stamps are sent by post it is advisable to send them under registered cover. All application should be accompanied by a self addressed envelope. If the certificate is required to be sent under registered post the required registration duty should be affixed to the cover .

Law and Language