HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2020 procedure continued until August 2020. The Commission vetted and confirmed 571 military personnel for deployment in the reporting year i.e. 346 Sri Lanka Army personnel, 218 Sri Lanka Air Force personnel, 2 Sri Lanka Navy personnel, and 5 Sri Lanka Police personnel. 2.5. Challenges The year 2020 saw many achievements for the Commission. However, long standing challenges hampering the Commission continued in 2020 with additional challenges against the backdrop of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The main challenge was the closure of office premises during the first lockdown of 2020 and subsequent resumption of activities with limited staff in attendance which delayed inquiries and the issuance of recommendations. The persistent shortage of staff to carry out increased monitoring activities due to the pandemic and the inadequate levels technological skills of existing staff to facilitate seamless Work From Home (WFH) arrangements hindered the efficient and effective functioning of the Commission. Another recurrent challenge for the Commission was administrative difficulties encountered due to archaic administrative and financial regulations in the public sector and the lack of innovative administrative solutions to address these problems which prevented the Commission from achieving progress on administrative matters at the level anticipated. Further, despite the Non-implementation Monitoring Unit of the I&I division diligently following up on the implementation of HRCSL recommendations, non-compliance by public officials of a sizeable percentage of recommendations remained a perennial concern. This adversely impacted the Commission in fully realizing its mandate to protect human rights. The Commission remained steadfast in its view that seeking disciplinary action against errant officials was the best method of ensuring compliance as against seeking an amendment to the parent Act in order to have its recommendations implemented by the courts as this would burden the parties with legal fees and protracted delays. 37