AHRC suggests doubling of High Courts in Lanka to reduce crime

An Asian human rights group has said that doubling the number of High Courts in Sri Lanka will drastically reduce the occurrence of serious crimes since only the High Courts have the jurisdiction to conduct trials regarding serious crimes.

The Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said prolonged delays in adjudication has undermined the effectiveness of these courts acting towards discouraging criminals from committing crimes and fearing the capacity of the State to enforce effective punishments.

Increasing the number of High Courts is an essential measure for reducing serious crimes, reports Lanka Page.

The AHRC points out the most difficult issue in the criminal justice field in Sri Lanka is the delay in adjudication and it is the major cause for increase in crimes.

The prolonged delay in criminal trials has created an impression among the criminals that they have a greater likelihood of escaping punishment and that in any case their liberty will not be in jeopardy for a long time to come.

The AHRC noted that vulnerable groups in Sri Lanka, especially women and children, will benefit most from speedy trials and delay in criminal trials contributes to the insecurity among those groups.

According to the group, increasing the number of High Courts from the 28 existing at present will not create a great burden on the government's finances.

By increasing of High Courts it is implied that the number of High Court judges and the Court staff and the necessary material and infrastructure resources as well as the premises need to be provided.

However, the impact of implementing this proposal will be immense.

On one hand, it will significantly resolve the problem of delays in the adjudication of criminal trials.

It will set a tempo for change throughout the court system as well as in the other institutions such as the Attorney General's Department and the police, the AHRC points out.

The AHRC expressed hope that this singular measure of the increase of the number of High Courts in Sri Lanka will receive the attention of the government leaders, its policy makers, as well as all the opinion makers in Sri Lanka including the civil society.