A ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for the new Lawyers’ office complex in Kandy on Wednesday (15) which was presided over by Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe P.C.
A plot of about 40 perches belonging to the Urban Development Authority, adjacent to the Kandy Court Complex has been acquired by the Ministry of Justice, where 134 offices for Lawyers are to be built.
There is already an office complex for members of the Kandy Bar Association, but the number of offices is insufficient for those currently practising as Lawyers to carry out their professional activities.
Speaking at the event Minister Rajapakshe said, “The most important factor in the Justice process is the public involved in the cases. It should be mentioned that Lawyers are not doing jobs but engaged in a respectable profession. Someone goes to Court because there is no other place to go to find a solution to their existing problem.
That is why we must protect the Rights of the client who comes to Court. Our country’s Economy collapsed last year and went into a state of anarchy. No one came forward to take over the country. We must ensure that such situations do not arise in the future. An unstable country was created because the Rule of Law broke down. The Rule of Law must be secured to build the Economy of the country.
In order to establish the Rule of Law, both the governed and the rulers must act according to the Law. To get support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and to get the GSP Plus, we had to introduce certain Laws. By adopting the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, independent Commissions were established in this country. The Anti-Corruption Act was passed. The optimistic results of those Bills can be seen in the future. In the last two years, the Ministry of Justice was able to pass 75 new Laws and Acts. Last week’s Cabinet meeting approved the introduction of a new Law related to the confiscation of property fraudulently obtained from crime. It will be submitted to Parliament and adopted immediately. Accordingly, steps will be taken to confiscate the fraudulently acquired property.”
The Minister also said that he is happy about the development of a new office complex for Lawyers in Kandy, where there are a large number of cases, and further said that he would like to express his thanks to the State Minister of Justice and Prisons Anuradha Jayaratne and those who worked for it.
The second largest Bar Association in Sri Lanka is the Kandy Bar Association with a membership of around 800 members.
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