Supreme Court Justice Yasantha Kodagoda said that it is not the role of a judge to investigate and find the truth in a case that comes before the court.
He stated that it is the responsibility of the investigating officers to find the truth in a case, and that in a civilized country, a court only reaches a conclusion through the legal mechanism (Judicial Adjudication) based on the evidence presented by the relevant parties.
He further commented,
“When we investigate a case, we have a certain responsibility. What is that responsibility? To resolve the issue presented to us using a specific legal mechanism. What is this legal mechanism? Judicial adjudication. Not only in our country but in all other civilized countries of the world, the role of the prosecutor is not to investigate and find the truth. That is the role of the investigating officer.
Our role is not to investigate and find the truth by investigating how a crime was committed? Who did it? Our role is to reach a conclusion based on the evidence presented to us by both parties using the mechanism of judicial adjudication accepted by law.
In a criminal case, it is to determine whether the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. On the other hand, the defendant has to prove that the prosecution has a reasonable doubt in the subject matter of the case. We are there whether it has been created in the mind or not. That is why he said in his acceptance speech that there are three judgments here.
One is the judgment of the people, the judgment of the court and he said the judgment of nature. Is it the judgment of nature? Or is it a universal judgment that is more powerful than us even if we all take it together? I also think that due to our limited role, in some cases there may be some difference between the decision we reach after examining a case and the conclusion that the public reaches through the publicity of the incident in the media…”
Judge Yasantha Kodagoda stated this while participating in a ceremony held yesterday.