Local Media announces appointment of a Sri Lankan as Supreme Court Judge

The local media has announced that a Sri Lankan national, Mohan Niranjit Burhan has been appointed as a Supreme Court Judge.

Mr Burhan is not new to the Seychelles Legal scene as he served as a Magistrate previously. The Nation has also stated that Mr Burhan is presently a High Court Judge in Sri Lanka.

His announced appointment is a welcome move with regards to helping clear the backlog of cases. Many litigants and lawyers complain about how slowly cases are progressing in the Seychelles' courts. The appointment of a Supreme Court judge comes after much delay as a court room has been vacant since former Chief Justice Alleear resigned in January this year (10 months ago). The word was that there was much disagreement behind the scenes on who should be elevated to the Supreme Court.

Mr Burhan's appointment however shows a worrying trend. In the past month and a half, the last 3 appointments to the judiciary have been foreign nationals, this despite the fact that there are able and capable Seychellois who could have been appointed to these posts. The matter is further compounded by the economic difficulties that Seychelles is going through. With the 'lack' of foreign exchange in the country and the fact that foreign workers are allowed foreign exchange allocations, which they inevitably send overseas, the further recruitment of foreign workers where it is not necessary, goes against the macro-economic programme that this country is supposed to be following.


The Robing Room is the official blog of the Seychelles Legal Environment Website (www.geocities.com/ptikoy), the only website about the Seychelles Legal Environment that is constantly updated.