Herculean task

Friday, 12 February 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s new Attorney General has to shoulder the largest burden of expectations since the office was created in 1884 and has the unenviable task of ushering in a justice system that works devoid of political interference. This may well prove to be the truest herculean task ever placed before a human being.

The political changes of last year heralded promises of good governance that have been bottlenecked, according to the National Government, by the Attorney General’s Department. Its lack of resources, independence and transparency, has been highlighted time and again by good governance activists and politicians alike. Questions over the department’s ability to empower its lawyers have also come under question during difficult and politicised cases such as investigations into Avant-Garde or the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its controversial members.

The Attorney General’s Department drafts law and implements it once it is passed by parliament. It is also tasked with representing the rights and interests of the public in instances where there rights may be infringed upon. But perhaps the most important task of the Attorney General is to stick up for the little man, the one who cannot afford expensive legal advice but still has the right to have his interests protected by the law when faced with big business or equally big politicians. Often both are the same.

Of course the Attorney General’s Department does not work alone. It is linked to multiple bodies that assist in investigating, gathering evidence and presenting it before the courts. Departments such as the Government Analyst are a crucial link in this chain of justice and need to be improved along with the CID, TID, police and the court system. Yet the framing of charges and formulating a case to be put before a judge rests on the Attorney General and the extent of the punishment is partly decided by what laws and precedents are upheld.

Tackling large-scale corruption, murder and mismanagement cases will be the expectation placed upon the new Attorney General. The post has been notorious for being too deeply linked to politics and the very fact that different Government’s select their preferred candidate is an indication of how limited the Attorney General’s role can become. Caught amidst growing impatience by the people and a Government that is keen to take its own agendas forward the Attorney General could well find himself caught between a rock and a hard place, especially when Sri Lanka’s complicated and cumbersome legal system is factored in.

The Attorney General can be neither puppet nor pirate but can be viewed as one or the other by the perception of the public or politicians. In an ideal world these viewpoints would not matter, but in many instances governments tend to play on the weakness of its institutions to serve their own ends. This could have serious ramifications as some of the legal powers vested with the Attorney General also deal with issues like hate speech, draconian terrorism prevention laws and outdated social ideals on women’s rights. Legal reform is a huge part of Sri Lanka’s journey towards equality and peace and in this march the Attorney General is a standard bearer.