Rule of law committee prepares second report for Parliament

 

“We are preparing to submit the report in the upcoming parliamentary session,” he said, adding that it had yet to be shown to the committee’s members. The committee will meet to discuss the report and after it agrees on its contents it will be submitted to the Parliament, he said.

Committee member Khin Saw Wai said he knew nothing about the report except that input from the European Union had been received. The next session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on September 15.

A report from the committee submitted in August last year highlighted a number of severe weaknesses in the judicial system. It cited cases where police officers could not arrest murderers and convicts who broke out of prison “due to the weakness of some laws”. The amount of paper work to transfer a case from one police station to another is also a stumbling block to ensuring that laws are upheld, the report said.

It called on prosecutors and other court staff to uphold a higher standard of ethics and responsibility and said that “judges should be free from bribery and corruption” in order to ensure a credible and reliable judicial system. “Moreover, judges should not take advantage of weaknesses in laws and by-laws to render verdicts,” the report said. Some courts have a record of unfair investigations, lawsuits and verdicts, the report said.

It called for better cooperation between the executive and judiciary pillars for the rule of law to be successfully implemented. Corruption and bribery remain commonplace at every level of the executive branch, despite calls from the top to end these crimes, the report said.   

Aung San Suu Kyi said that ensuring the rule of law required assistance from the executive branch, as the Parliament could not accomplish this goal alone.