[Introduction]

This book is set in the milieu of a dysfunctional legal system, in a failing, if not already failed state.  It contains four articles written by Kishali Pinto Jayawardena and Basil Fernando.  The focus of this book is Sri Lanka and its appalling legal system.  These articles attempt to portray the picture of contemporary Sri Lanka from the stand points of the activist, the academic and the citizen.

The legal system of Sri Lanka though a blend of many, the focal area of this book which is the criminal justice system, is based largely on the British principles. It has undergone drastic changes over the years. Analogous to the concentration of power on the Executive President, to an extent of being above the law in the Constitutional sphere, the police, paramilitary and military began to get extended powers, so also the judiciary in the Sri Lankan legal system. The changes were made on the grounds of insurgency, emergency and contingencies. These were made at the cost of civil liberties and human rights.

[Published in October 2007 by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), 80 pages, ISBN-13: 978-962-8314-33-1]

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