We talk almost every day about the case delays and forensic report delays in the Ministry of Justice.
In many cases, delays in forensic reports have led to unjustified imprisonment. As a result, the government has to bear the additional burden of maintaining them. Sometimes we have seen the test reports are 1-2 years late.
The same is true of cases. Many cases drag on for years and in some cases the victim dies. In recent days, civil society has repeatedly pointed out to the government that this situation must change.
It was also discussed that certain ordinances and laws should be changed.
However, so far there has been some improvement. Ali Sabri, President’s Counsel to the Minister of Justice stated that 10 new legal reforms will be introduced in the next few months and several committees are already in operation and the reports of two committees have already been submitted.
He said that the Ministry of Justice is working to improve all the processes required to strengthen the administration of justice in a more positive manner and that a number of steps have already been taken and are being implemented.
The Minister pointed out that a Reform Division has been established under the Ministry of Justice to carry out reforms in the existing legal system and said that there will be a drastic change in the process of administering justice in the next four years.
He pointed out that the Government Analyst’s Department is the best example of this and that steps have been taken to expedite any delays caused by institutions under the Ministry of Justice which are directly related to the justice process.
A few months ago, there were about 8000 analyst reports in the department and all of them have been completed by now and now the department has the efficiency to issue and complete a report in a month. Ali Sabri, Minister of Justice stated that the main objective of the government is to make all institutions involved in the administration of justice properly efficient.
The Minister further stated that He said that long-term solutions to the current problems in the judiciary would be introduced and the present government was aware of this and was already working on it.
He was speaking at the International Development Partners Conference on Strengthening Justice organized by the Ministry of Justice at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo.
