Why Are Court Cases Delayed in Sri Lanka? That is what Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe is supposed to explain to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake when they meet up next week.
In Sri Lanka, many court cases are delayed because police investigations are often incomplete when sent to the Attorney General’s (AG) Department. The AG’s Department has now decided not to open files or file cases in court if the police do not fully complete their investigations.
This decision comes after the AG’s Department faced criticism for not prosecuting high-profile cases quickly. Officials reported that the main reason for delays is incomplete investigations by the police.
. Recently, the President publicly questioned why some case files in the AG’s Department remain untouched for years.
The problem of delayed police investigations has been an issue for a long time. Last year, the Public Security Ministry asked the police to speed up probes into major cases, like the 2015 Treasury Bond auction and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
To solve this problem, the AG’s Department now requires the police to certify that an investigation is complete before submitting it. Incomplete reports will be returned to Police Headquarters.
One reason for the delays is that police sometimes send incomplete findings to the AG to avoid criticism for “slow investigations.” This creates more work for the AG’s Department, which must then issue instructions on how to fix errors. Unfortunately, these instructions are often ignored.
Another issue is that police sometimes tell courts they are waiting for advice from the AG’s Department, even when their investigation is incomplete. In some cases, police have sent reports to the AG without even taking statements from key suspects.
The AG’s Department hopes these new rules will reduce delays and improve the handling of criminal cases in Sri Lanka.
