‘We will not join the ICC; we will not include foreign judges’: PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his response to a special statement by Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena in Parliament today, said Sri Lanka would not join the International Criminal Court (ICC), or include foreign judges in Sri Lanka’s judicial mechanism.

“We will not join the ICC,” the Prime Minister said. “It is against the policy of the whole of South Asia”. “We will not include foreign judges in the judicial process,” he said emphatically, giving as proof of his intent a statement made earlier this month in which he pointed out that the inclusion of foreign judges in Sri Lanka’s judicial process was not feasible.

“I have said it is not feasible, the President has said it will not happen – what are you afraid of?” he asked the Joint Opposition, reminding them the Darusman Report – the Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka – had come about under the previous government.

“We will not include foreign judges,” he reiterated. “ We may have foreign experts and observers but Sri Lankan judicial mechanism will not allow foreign judges – it is not permitted in the constitution.”