Striving for a people-centred legal system Book facts

“Justice delayed is justice denied”, the well-known dictum, is the theme of this book. In our age of professionalism in which all professionals are proud of their professions and love them, it is wonderful to come across one who loves his legal profession but loves humanity, which he is serving through it, more – hence perhaps the raison d être for this learned and down-to-earth book which is also to his credit. To be able to present such an erudite and thought provoking treatise in language and style which the average reader can comprehend is another achievement of the author.

Further, it is laced with his customary subtle humour which makes the book eminently readable. For instance, in writing about the case relating to the packing of tea, in the context of the rising cost of the wooden chest and the need to prevent the depletion of forest cover, Leslie, - no doubt tongue in cheek – refers to the plaintiff ’s solution to the problem: urging that the “chest be given the sack”! Then again he often refers to the “trees being missed for the wood” as he wants to point out that the tree is the lawyer’s client who looks to him for jus- tice – the purpose for which he was engaged, often at a price his client could ill afford- and for speedy justice at that. But what we learn from Leslie’s narrative of cases is that lawyers as well as the legal precedents created and often adhered to willy nilly – without a thought of examining whether they do any good to the human and humane side of the legal proceedings - irks both the author and the reader and, worse still, causes a huge financial loss to the client and a lucrative gain to the lawyer by persistent postponement of the Case. Right at the start, Leslie states, and I quote: “The justice system was indeed burdened by procedural laws that had been enacted during the latter part of the 19th century. They needed replacement by new laws more suited to changing times and needs. The perennial laws’ delays had to be addressed. Most right thinking people are amazed that our procedural laws were allowed to exist, with little change, over the centuries. Not like minded were the majority of the legal fraternity, which appeared to be allergic to change”.

Leslie seems to have had an amazing appetite for work with frequent search for new avenues. It is no wonder that he was happy to accept the challenge when shifted from the Magistrate’s to the District Court, then to the High Court, and thence to new pastures such as Legal Aid, which he calls “Less equal access to Justice” and bemoans the fact that “No Minister of Justice thought equal access to justice was a priority”. While being in Legal Aid, Leslie dabbled in arbitration (the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism called Arbitration) which was introduced to Sri Lanka only in 1995. Leslie sadly states: “with malice to none, I wish to declare that the intervention of the legal profession is harmful for the survival of the spirit of arbitration. The vital object of arbitration is to avoid unnecessary delay or expense. Our arbitration centres are idle in the mornings because lawyers are busy at the courts. They want to start arbitrations at four or five in the afternoon to suit their convenience and work an hour or two at the most” and again he bemoans, “Is it not tragic that in Sri Lanka, anything new and novel designed to cure the unacceptable delays and the resulting expense that exists at all levels in our justice systems is always destined to be stillborn?” The Contingent Fee System of the UK he feels would result in the existing snowballing clogging of cases evaporating soon. Best of all, a judicial system which can be expected to deliver will earn the confidence of the people and Leslie goes on to say: “is it not tragic that the Ministry of Justice, the legal profession and the Judicial Services Commission have not cared to study the contingent fee system which has been embraced by the developed world? Are the authorities insensitive to public interest? Is the legal profession deaf and blind to developments beyond their shores?”

Leslie’s insight into the law goes far beyond it to its objective – the people to be served by it. His incisive and innovative mind therefore can see linkages between an act and the law as constituting a crime, for example, as the soliciting of sexual favours coming within the meaning of gratification in the Bribery Act which surely must be a boon to women working in a hierarchy. Then again, while recognising some punishments for crime as necessitating incarceration, he nevertheless calls on the law to ease the prisoners’ lot, for which he has worked earnestly.

What has to be admired in Leslie’s thinking is that his goal for the legal system is a people-centred one, and I entirely agree with him as indeed not only law but economics and development should be too. Therefore, I would like to express my earnest hope that those who are selfcentred will see the other person’s side of the legal picture to ensure that there is equity in the lawyer-client tandem. I recommend Justice Denied as educative reading to this end, especially for the legal fraternity, for the good of us all, in the hope that it would create a just legal climate in Sri Lanka. It is already very late, but then, is it never too late?