A conference convened by the Judicial Service Commission pressured Magistrates serving in Magistrate Courts on how to proclaim verdicts, inciting not only an influence
on the judiciary, but also an indirect threat, divulged Leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and National People's Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, speaking in Parliament today (17).
The MP further revealed that the Judicial Service Commission had informed in writing that it was compulsory for Magistrates to attend this conference and that problems may arise in granting promotions and foreign travels to those who are not.
The Magistrates who joined the conference in the hope of being informed on how to continue judicial proceedings amid the Covid-19 pandemic had to face threats and pressure from the Judicial Service Commission, which was established to defend the Judiciary's autonomy, Dissanayake went on, disclosing that the said conference has severely criticised the Magistrates' rulings over the Police's conduct against certain protest actions happened in the recent past, inciting influence to act in accordance with the Police's desire in such situations.
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