“There is also an urgent need to ensure uniformity and consistency in the approach by the Courts in sentencing involving serious crimes. A Strict sentencing regime should be enforced in respect of serious crime. Public confidence in the criminal justice system is at a low ebb. Some crimes are so outrageous but still there is no fear of crime in the country. Ad-hoc sentencing policies have not addressed punishment sufficiently and adequately. Adequate punishment to punish the offender for the crime committed, to deter the offender from committing further crime and to deter potential offenders and reflect the revulsion of society should be the order and standard,” the Attorney General said.
Attorney General Livera further stated that Suspended Sentencing for serious crime should be used carefully and cautiously only in exceptional circumstances. ‘With regard to the serious drug problem in the country and the need to expeditiously dispose of these cases involving possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs, the establishment of a Special High Court in the Western Province in Colombo is a matter which requires serious consideration,’ the Attorney General stated.
While appreciating the Chief Justice’s three and a half decades service at the Attorney General Department, the Attorney General Livera described the newly appointed Chief Justice as smiling assassin. “Your Lordship is assuming office at a time when the country has been plunged into a crisis. A crisis in Law and Order. Today, Public Safety, Public Security and National Security have been compromised and is still at high risk. There is a proclamation of a state of public emergency and Emergency Laws and Regulations have been promulgated by the President in terms of the legal powers vested in him,’ the Attorney General further added.
‘Your Lordship’s Court is faced with a formidable challenge to uphold Fundamental Human Rights and the Rule of Law. To strictly enforce and follow due process and the procedure established by law. Arrest is a critical component of due process and the procedure established by law. The Rule of Law must be upheld to bring every citizen equally before the law. The weak and the poor and the marginalized should not feel weakened and discriminated by the powerful and wealthy,’ Attorney General Livera further added.