“There are many real estate cases in economic hub cities in Myanmar such as Yangon and Mandalay. Real estate brokers and touts are conspiring with government officials in sharing profits from these cases by interfering in them so they win in their favour,” Thura Aung Ko said at a debate on the report of his parliamentary affairs committee at the House of Representatives on December 14.

In these cases, government officials from trial courts, some officials from law offices, the General Administration (GA) Department, municipal committees and the Deeds and Agreements Registrar office, were involved, he said.

“These civil cases are delayed in civil courts for up to about 15 years and in some cases these touts and officials hired professional thugs and gangsters to blatantly trespass on lands and buildings and take them into their possession illegally,” he added.

The lower house parliamentary affairs, ‘Judicial, Legal, Complaints and Appeals Scrutinizing Committee’ was formed by parliament on September 5, 2011, and they submitted their report to parliament on 8December 2015 after a number of field inspections and studies.

According to the report’s observations,under the tenure of the current government independence, fairness and justice are still much needed in the judicial system and judges themselves are taking bribes in some cases.

The report further says that besides the judges of the courts, judicial officers, lawyers, law office staff, prosecuting agencies, chiefs of department, director generals and summons clerks are also involved in a number of bribery cases.

Thura Aung Ko also said that when writing the report he had ‘toned down’ the wording.

Retired Brig. Gen. Thura Aung Ko pointed out at the debate that fairness in the justice delivery system is a prerequisite for the rule of law and that a secure social environment with a rule of law was badly needed for the protection of the people.

(Photo: Thura Aung Ko/Facebook)