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"Law and judiciary must be accessible to ordinary people"

The fourth batch of attorneys passed out today the 25th January 2004 after completing their course in law from the Law College of Tamil Eelam. In the convocation ceremony held at the Kilinochchi District Court premises twenty-one students were honoured with certificates of completion by Mr. S.P. Tamilselvan, Head of the LTTE Political Wing.

Mr. Tamilselvan in his special address to the students said that law and justice must be made accessible to the ordinary people, more so in the context of two decades of war and the consequential disintegration of social values.

Following are excerpts from the address of Mr. Tamilselvan;

"Tamil Eelam judiciary is now ten years old. Our leader had a cherished vision when the idea of a judiciary and police force for Tamil Eelam was mooted. That was a time when the Tamil people had already lost confidence in the Sri Lankan police and the judiciary; so to say, they were almost hostile to these institutions. On the one hand the police force was a pan-Sinhala and racial in all their dealings with the people and the judiciary on the other hand failed to deliver justice to the people who sought it. It was partially because the laws of the land were drafted with bias and prejudice. The ordinary people suffered immensely in the hands of the police and also were disappointed with the law courts as well.

Our national leader had this as the motivating factor to institutionalise a judiciary and a law college. You are passing out today as attorneys with a commitment to serve the society which you are aware has faced the ravages of a civil war for two decades. Your service is to a nation of people, most of them refugees eking out an existence in welfare centres or with friends. These people need your assistance in matters of litigation. Ensure that you serve them honestly and maintain the noble principles of your profession.

Our judiciary and the law enforcement agency, the police, have received many commendations from visiting law experts and human right activists. It is because that this war-ravaged nation has in spite of the destruction and criminal injustice meted out survived the travails and still resilient enough to uphold the traditional social values and despise crime. It is only for petty crimes and civil litigation the people need your service. Maintain your integrity and make the people feel that the judiciary and the community of attorneys are a part of their society and therefore the theme "it is ours" should be maintained at any cost. In the military controlled areas of the Tamil homeland, one finds a total disintegration of social values and we must be careful to ensure that does not happen in our areas."

25 January 2004

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