1 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ 2 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ First Published in Sri Lanka in 2008 © Transparency International Sri Lanka # 28/1, Bullers Lane, Colombo 07 Sri Lanka. Tel : (94) 11 2501474, 2592287 Fax : (94) 112506419 E-mail : [email protected] Web :www.tisrilanka.org ISBN : 978-955-1281-22-9 Kapila Printed By : Advertising E-mail : [email protected] 3 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ Pages Contributors i Reviewers iii Editor’s Note v J.C. Weliamuna Highlights of Governance Issues 2007 /2 008 1 Gareesha Wirithamulla Awakening of the Sentinels: Recent Judicial Decisions Against 19 Corruption and Malpractice Thishya Weragoda Cracks in the Foundation 36 Suzie Beling Corruption and the Economy 56 Eran Wickramaratne & Nishan De Mel Governance of NGOs in Sri Lanka 87 Rukshana Nanayakkara Reforms Needed for Streamlining Financial Control and Scrutiny 101 by Parliament Wijedasa Rajapakse ú.Kldêm;s jd¾;dfjka fy<sjk zrdcH .Kka §fï j.lSïZ meyer 113 yeÍfï fÄÞka;h Ananda Dharmapriya Jayasekera Governance and Corruption Indices 129 Bettina Meier Acknowledgements 147 4 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ Contributors Wijedasa Rajapakse Wijedasa Rjapakse, President’s Counsel is a Member of the Global Parliamentarians against Corruption, the former Chairman of COPE, the former Chairman of the Press Council the former Chairman of People’s Bank, and the former Chairman of the Rent Board of Review. He is also the author of many law text books. He holds and LLB degree and was named LMD Person of the Year in 2007. Eran Wickramaratne Eran Wickramaratne is a banker and an economist by training. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Development Bank of Sri Lanka, and was a Vice President at Citibank. He has a B.A. in Economics and Politics, and a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of London. Eran was a pioneer of the government of Sri Lanka’s Information Communication Technology driven development programme ‘ e-Sri Lanka ‘ and the first Chairman of the ICT Agency. He is an Eisenhower Fellow. Nishan De Mel Nishan de Mel is an economist. He has served as Lecturer in economics at Oxford University (2002-2007) and as Researcher at the Institute of Policy Studies in Sri Lanka (1996-2000). His policy and advocacy work include promoting democracy and human rights as board member of the Sri Lanka Foundation, and designing health care reforms and tobacco and alcohol regulations on two Presidential Task Forces in Sri Lanka. Nishan has published numerous papers on pension reform and health care financing, and has worked as advisor to USAID on an initiative for promoting private sector competitiveness in Sri Lanka. Nishan holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.Phil. from Oxford University, both in economics. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in economics at Oxford University. Thishya Weragoda Thishya Weragoda is an Attorney At Law specializing in Commercial and Intellectual Property Law litigation. Thishya holds an LLB degree from the University of Colombo and an LL.M. (Intellectual Property and Technology Law) from the National University of Singapore, he is also a CIMA Passed Finalist 5 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ Suzie Beling Suzie Beling is an Attorney At Law. She has been working in Governance and Human Rights Related work since 2004 and has assisted in Public Interest Litigation. Suzie holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Colombo. Bettina Meier Bettina Meier is a Senior Advisor to Transparency International Sri Lanka. Bettina has worked in social development in many countries, and joined TI International Secretariat in Berlin in 2000 and has since managed a number of projects and publications particularly in the area of education governance. Ananda Jayasekera Ananda is a Professional Journalist and Former Provincial News Editor in “Ravaya” News Paper and the Programme Coordinator (Monitoring) Transparency International Sri Lanka. He holds B.A (Peradeniya), Postgraduate Diploma in Writership and communication (Sri Jayawardhanapura) Gareesha Wirithamulla Gareesha Wirithamulla is an Attorney – At – Law. She has been working at Transparency International Sri Lanka for the last four years and is currently the Programme Manager Advocacy. Gareesha holds an LLB degree from the University of Colombo. 6 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ Reviewers Dr. Mario Gomez Dr Mario Gomez has worked as a human rights activist, academic, and peace practitioner in a career spanning 18 years. He taught administrative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and women’s rights at undergraduate and post-graduate level in the University of Colombo, for 10 years. During that time he combined law teaching with human rights and constitutional reform work at the Law & Society Trust, a Sri Lankan think tank. He has designed and conducted training programs for human rights activists, judges and staff of human rights commissions, in Sri Lanka and abroad. He has published in the areas of economic and social rights, women’s rights, human rights commissions, internally displaced persons and public law. He was a Post-Doctoral Human Rights Fellow at Harvard University in 2001/ 2002.He was a member of the Sri Lankan Law Commission from 2001 - 2006 and currently works with the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies in Sri Lanka facilitating initiatives on constitutional reform and political dialogue. M. D. A. Harold Mr Harold is a former Deputy Auditor General with 26 years experience in the Auditor General’s Department and a total of 40 years of experience in the Sri Lanka State Services beginning in 1963. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Public, Financial and Development Accountancy and a Senior Member of the Association of Accounting Te chnicians of Sri Lanka. He was involved with the Anti-Corruption Programme for Sri Lanka, funded by USAID and implemented by ARD Inc. He lectures at Sri Lank Institute of Development Administration, Institute of Government Accountancy and Finance, and Institute of Supply and Material Management. Mr Harold holds diplomas in Accountancy from the Ceylon Technical College, and Public Financial Management from the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration. Chandra Jayaratne Chandra Jayaratne is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, a Fellow of the Institute of Management Accountants (UK) and the past Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He was named Sri Lankan of the Year in 2001. J.C. Weliamuna J. C. Weliamuna is the Executive Director of Transparency International Sir Lanka, and a leading lawyer in the field of Human Rights and Governance. He is well known for many landmark cases in which he has appeared. J.C Weliamuna is an Eisenhower Fellow, Ashoka Senior Fellow, a Bureau member of the South Asians for Human Rights, a consultant to the National Workers Congress on ILO Norms and was a short term consultant for World Bank and ILO. Mr Weliamuna has presented many papers on Human Rights and Governance related issues both nationally and internationally and has appeared on many television broadcasts to discuss issues of national importance. He holds an LLM from the University of Colombo, a Diploma in Forensic Medicine, and a Certificate in Internal Auditing. 7 Created with Print2PDF. To remove this line, buy a license at: http://www.software602.com/ Editor’s Note This years Governance Report come after a thorough evaluation of the first Report, released exactly a year ago. This report captures key and vital areas relevant for any person or organization attempting to understand governance status in the Sri Lanka. Further the report also covers all vital sectors and key issues that took place during the last one year. The articles produced here have been written by a mix groups of experts, some from outside and some within the staff of the TISL. They have been selected and invited to write the articles based on their proved competence. Though the view of the writer does not necessarily reflect that of the TISL, the writers’ autonomy and independence was respected. In order to maintain highest possible standards, all articles were subjected to both peer review and expert review. The Chapter on “Highlights of good governance issues” is based on a survey of media reports and research material gathered by the TISL. This chapter invites the reader to reflect on the events that took place during the year under review. In addition, complicated governance issues such as non implementation of the 17th Amendment and interference with the anti corruption commission and few alleged scandals are briefly dealt with. This chapter also raises some systemic governance issues that contributed to the present status of the country. Chapter on Reforms on Parliamentary Scrutiny of Public Finance deals with first hand experience of the former Chairman of the COPE. This article deals with the constitutional and legal framework of the scrutiny of the public finance and then identifies the major challenges in improving same in a wider political context. The recommendations suggested in this chapter are nationally important in the wider interest of financial accountability. “Cracks in the Foundation” focuses on few important issues covering the behavior of organs of the state. Among the issues that were dealt with, relates to the enhancement of unaccountable Executive Power weakening all possible oversight legally guaranteed. The chapter goes onto briefly deal with often quoted judicial activisms, the threats on media and international safe guards available to people in the context of governance.