Hearings of the first Anti-Corruption High Court will commence at Courtroom-1 of the Colombo High Court next week, Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorale informed the House yesterday.
“The commencement of the new Anti-Corruption High Court was initially due on July 4, 2018 as instructed by the Chief Justice. However, it was postponed due to a logistical problem,” Minister Athukorale also said.
She explained that the Colombo Traffic Court was moved to another location in order to set up the first Anti-Corruption High Court in the vacated space.
“We thought that we could use this vacated building as it is for the high court. But, the Attorney General informed us that this building needs renovation. The Sri Lankan Navy was entrusted with the renovation process. They informed us that there is an issue regarding the roof of this said building. The Navy informed us that they cannot hand over the building by July 4, without completing repairs to the roof. “They will hand us over the building in two weeks,”Minister Athukorale informed the House. She also said that since the High Court was initially planned to begin on July 4, the hearings of it will commence at a separate location. The location will be Courtroom 1 of the Colombo High Court,” she further explained. Minister Athukorale made these observations in reply to an oral question by JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa with regards to cases concluded by the FCID, which are to be filed by the Attorney General’s Department. Minister Athukorale said hearings of the new High Court will commence subsequent to receiving permissions for indictments pertaining to the relevant cases.
“The respective documents will be handed over to the Chief Justice by the AG’s officers during this week,” Minister Athukorale added.