COLOMBO (NewsRadio); Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says the government will follow the Supreme Court’s observations on the proposed new Anti-Terrorism Bill.
The Justice Minister said the decision to delay the tabling of the bill in Parliament was taken based on requests made by various organizations for more consultation.
He said the government will provide more time for factions to go to the Supreme Court if they wished to do so.
The new Anti-Terrorism Bill will replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, which was enforced to counter the LTTE militants.
On April 1, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the new counter-terrorism law will be introduced later this month.
However, Justice Minister Rajapakshe later said the bill would be delayed to either late April or early May.
Minister Rajapakshe said if the new counter terrorism act was going against the fundamental and human rights of individuals, the Supreme Court would rule as such.
He added, the Supreme Court will also rule if the proposed bill required a simple or absolute majority in Parliament and if it will need a referendum for its adoption to become law.
On March 17, the new Anti-Terrorism Bill of 97 pages was published in the government gazette.
The opposition and civil society groups objected to the new bill, saying it targets the civil society protests.
Since 2016, the European Union has been urging the government to repeal the PTA and bring in new counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards.
The EU has linked its GSP+ export tariff concessions to Sri Lanka modifying its counter-terrorism Act.
