“We were not consulted” – Bribery Commission
Chairman writes to President
[October
02, 2003 - 10.45
GMT]
The
debate over the proposed amendments to the Bribery Law took a new turn
Tuesday 30th September with a letter from the Chairman and a
member of the Bribery and Corruption Commission to President Kumaratunga
stating that “at no stage” did the government consult them on the proposed
changes.
“We
strongly feel that we should have been consulted before coming up with these
proposals because it is we who know the difficulties in the implementation
of the Commission Act,” the letter said.
Commenting on the
proposed amendment, Chairman Ananda Coomaraswamy and member Dr. Kingsley
Wickremasuriya say that while they “fully agree” to the introduction of a
Section or Law that would enable the commission to function not-withstanding
a vacancy, they consider “all the rest of the proposals before the Cabinet
irrelevant”.
Meanwhile, Cabinet
spokesman Prof. G L Peiris at the weekly media briefing said today that
there seems to be some “confusion and misunderstanding” about what is
proposed by the government.
“The
Amendment to the Bribery and Corruption Law was presented as an item for
discussion in the supplementary agenda at the Cabinet meeting yesterday,” he
said, adding that the President however wanted to discuss the matter first
with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice and did not want the
matter taken up at the meeting.
Full text of the
letter:
Her Excellency
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,
The President of the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,
President’s House,
Colombo 1.
September 30, 2003
PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS TO THE CIABOC ACT
We refer to our letter
dated April 30, 2003, a copy of which is attached for Your Excellency's easy
reference.
We are now informed,
according to the recent media announcements made by the Minister of Justice,
that proposals are before the Cabinet to amend the Commission to Investigate
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Act No.19 of 1994. The proposals
referred to are (a) the introduction of a section in law to enable the
Commission to function not withstanding a vacancy in the Commission (b)
increasing the number of Commissioners from 3 to 5 (c) fixing a quorum for
meetings and (d) appointing the Director General in consultation with the
Constitutional Council.
We wish to inform Your
Excellency that at no stage were we consulted on these proposed changes. We
strongly feel that we should have been consulted before coming up with these
proposals because it is we who know the difficulties in the implementation
of the Commission Act. We however, wish to make the following comments on
the proposed amendment:
Commission to
function not- withstanding any vacancy
We fully agree that
the introduction of a Section or Law to this effect as in the case of the
other Independent Commissions established under the 17th Amendment is the
solution to the present problem where the Commission has been rendered
ineffective (consequent to the demise of one of the Commissioners) in
respect of certain of its powers. All the rest of the proposals before the
Cabinet we consider are irrelevant.
Increase in the
number of Commissioners
We have
never asked for an increase in the number of the Commissioners. Complaints
of delay if at all, are not due to the insufficient number of Commissioners.
It is solely due to the shortage of investigative staff and the non-filling
of vacancies in the cadre, particularly in the Gazetted ranks and the
Inspectorate. Increase in the number of Commissioners, therefore, is not the
solution to the problem. Rather, it is likely to aggravate the problem.
Besides it is an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer having to cater to
FIVE Commissioners instead of THREE, with additional resources
with experience of almost a decade of working the Commission has shown that
three is the optimum workable number for the Commission.
Quasi-judicial body
The
Commission as constituted now under Act No 19 of 1994 is a quasi-judicial
body. Therefore, what is essential is to have members experienced in the
practice of law such as retired Superior Court Judges as stipulated in the
present Act, the powers and functions being of a quasi-judicial nature. This
was the original intention of the framers of the law as contained in the
speech of the then Minster of External Trade, Justice, and Constitutional
Affairs as appearing beginning in column 406 of the Hansard of October 5,
1994. It is in investigations that persons with expertise in other fields
that will be of use.
Quorum for meetings
Moreover,
the Commission as constituted now under the Act No. 19 of 1994 (Section 8)
enables the members of the Commission to exercise the powers conferred on
it, either sitting together or separately. The act of a Commissioner sitting
separately is deemed to be an act of the Commission. Unlike the other
Commissions established under the 17th Amendment which meet to deliberate
their business on a weekly/ fortnightly/ monthly basis, the Commissioners of
this Commission work full-time and as such sit on a daily basis being a
permanent Commission. A quorum, therefore, is redundant in law.
Appointment of
Director-General
The new
proposals envisage the appointment of the Director-General by the President
in consultation with the Constitutional Council as against the present
provision of appointment of the Director-General in consultation with the
Commission. The Director-General, even now, is not under the disciplinary
control of the Commission. The present arrangement has worked solely on the
relationship and understanding between the Commission and the
Director-General. The consultative process with the Commission has
contributed to this understanding and goodwill. Even with such consultation
the Commission has run into difficulties with the Director-General as the
past experience has shown us. Therefore, if this consultative process with
the Commission is removed by this new proposal, we can foresee its adverse
effects on the smooth working of the Commission, particularly when the
Director-General is not under the disciplinary control of the Commission.
S
Ananda Coomaraswamy
Chairman.
Dr.
Kingsley Wickremasuriya
Member
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Last Updated
Date: October 02, 2003 -10.45
GMT. |
