Law College Students’ Union asks Justice Minister to place fee hike gazette before Parliament

The Law Students’ Union of Sri Lanka (LSU) has urged Minister of Justice Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapakshe to place the Extraordinary Gazette No. 2313/49, dated 05-01-2023, before the Parliament, as per the provisions of the Council of Legal Education Ordinance No. 2 of 1990.

In a letter signed by LSU President Shenal Wijesinghe and Secretary Kavindu Malshan Hewamalage addressed to the Justice Minister the LSU says: “This letter is with concern to the contents of the Extraordinary Gazette Notice No. 2313/49 dated 5th of January 2023. This Gazette Notice contained an unreasonable and exponential increase in the fees at Sri Lanka Law College that shocked and perturbed the law student fraternity and the general public at large.

As the elected representative body, the Law Students’ Union of Sri Lanka, made several representations to the members of the Council of Legal Education and your esteemed self as well.  Subsequently, a petition signed by the 185 students of the 148th batch, together with written representations from the Law Students of the Universities of Colombo and Peradeniya, was placed before the Council seeking a reconsideration of the fee structure. It was conveyed to us, thus, that the matter would be discussed at the meeting on the 5th of September 2023.

Thereafter, there has been no communication to us about a positive change in the fee structure. Moreover, other than some vague iteration about scholarships, no sustainable or practicable solution to the difficulties of the students has been implemented. While we acknowledge that scholarships as some relief, is better than no relief, it is certainly not a long-term solution to the difficulties expressed by law students.

We note that the following fee increase was made in the context of, and possibly oblivious to Sri Lanka’s national poverty line being Rs 13,777 and the population in poverty being 31% or seven million people. Moreover, the household monthly mean per capita income is Rs. 20,577 which further drops to Rs 18,770 and Rs 11,647 in the rural and estate sector households.

Therefore, implementing the following changes in the fee structure has the undeniable and irrefutable consequence of eliminating the accessibility of legal education to students from less-privileged backgrounds (whom as the statistics cited above show, form a large swathe of the Sri Lankan population) i.e. the restriction of the legal profession to the upper classes, as it once was many decades ago.

1. Entrance Examination Fee increased by 150% from 6,000 to 15,000

2. Preliminary Year Lectures Fees increased by 257.14% from 18,900 to 67,500

3. Intermediate Year Lectures Fees increased by 170% from 15,000 to 40,500

4. Final Year Lectures Fees increased by 184.62% from 19,500 to 55,500

5. Apprentices Practical Training Lectures Fees increased by 316.67% from 6,000 to 25,000

6. Exam Fees per paper increased by 250% from 1,000 to 2,500

7. Total cost for state university graduates increased by 179.10% from 33,500 to 93,500

In consideration of this, the issues which many students of Sri Lanka Law College faced, with regard to this unbearable increment of fees, still persist at large and in this context request that you place the contentious Extraordinary Gazette before the Parliament as provided for in s. 7(3) of the Council of Legal Education Ordinance No. 2 of 1900 which states that “Every by-law, rule or order made by the Council shall, as soon as convenient after its publication in the Gazette, be brought before Parliament for approval”.

Additionally, we urge you to explore the possibility of securing a government grant to Sri Lanka Law College from the Treasury to assist in financing the daily operational expenses. Moreover, it is also proposed that you make necessary arrangements to establish a concessionary loan scheme with an adequate grace period for the benefit of students of Sri Lanka Law College. For instance, Sri Lanka Law College can also be made an eligible institution under the interest-free loan scheme operated by the Ministry of Higher Education.”