Following the Anti-Corruption Bill being passed in Parliament on Wednesday (19) with amendments, a request has been made for experts in the sectors affiliated with anti-corruption to support the new Commission which is to be established under the Act.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Justice Ministry yesterday (20), former Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) Director General President’s Counsel (PC) Sarath Jayamanne, who was involved in drafting the Bill, said that experts’ support is needed to ensure the success of the programme since the lack of such experts in the previous Commissions had resulted in failures in prosecuting offenders, even though they (offenders) had serious allegations. He also noted that with the enactment of the new Act, people with expertise in their fields will be recruited as Commissioners and officers of the CIABOC instead of retired Justices (judges of the apex, superior courts) and high-ranking police officers who were recruited by the Ministry of Public Administration. 

According to Jayamanne, the recruitment will be carried out by the President as per the recommendations given by the Constitutional Council. “As we know, the main reason for the delay or the inability in prosecuting offenders under the current Act is the incapability of the officers in proving evidence in court. Therefore, the CIABOC has to withdraw cases they file with the High Courts (HCs). We understood that officers in the Commission do not have the ability to investigate incidents and prove them. They have enough knowledge, and sometimes experience, but unfortunately, they have no expertise in all the fields related to this subject. For example, a Justice may not have knowledge about auditing although he/she is an expert in law. Then, there has to be an auditor who is an expert in his/her subject. That is why we say that experts must be in the Commission,” he added. He claimed that the current Commission does not have competent investigative officers and has to rely on officers temporarily assigned from the Police Department. As a solution, he said that the Act empowers the CIABOC to recruit suitable officers as per the criteria decided by it. Therefore, he requested professionals to give their support to the Commission, taking this as a responsibility rather than blaming the Government, claiming that it does not take any action against corruption. He also said that the responsibility of preventing corruption is shared among both the Government and the public. Jayamanne also said that these officers will be recruited after a competitive exam and a special procedure instead of the recruitments done by the Public Administration Ministry.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same media briefing, Subject Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC said that under the new Act, numerous high-ranking officers in the hierarchy, including the President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, and diplomats, have been ordered to provide assets and liabilities declarations to the Commission. He also stated that according to the provisions in the new Act, the Director General of the Commission should obtain the permission of the HC Judge who is hearing the particular case if the Commission wants to withdraw the case. "With the weaknesses of the current CIABOC Act, the independence of the CIABOC is fruitless. In fact, it should be independent, and have the necessary powers and environment to effectively exercise its powers. Therefore, we have prepared this Act by including provisions that cover all those shortcomings. Some parties are alleging that this was prepared according to the needs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but that is completely false. We took suggestions from all parties, including the IMF and the World Bank, in preparing this, but that does not mean that we have prepared the Bill according to their wishes and needs," he said.