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Final draft of Prisons Bill to be handed to Minister
View(s):The final draft of the Prisons Bill aimed at improving standards in the country‘s over-populated prisons, will be presented to Minster of Justice Rauff Hakeem tomorrow by Justice Hector Yapa who headed the Committee appointed to draft the new Bill.
The new legislation will replace the existing Prisons Ordinance with a view to streamlining the legislative and administrative action related to prisons administration in accordance with accepted international norms and practices.
The Committee was guided by reports and findings of a triad of previous committees appointed to consider prison reforms. It also took into consideration Sri Lanka’s international obligations such as the Standard Minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners (SMRTP) adopted by the United Nations, the conventions adopted by the International Labour Organization and ratified by Sri Lanka and other international principles related to prisoners and prisons administration, Justice Ministry officials said.
An intensive study of existing local legislation, rules and prison practices as well as legislation from comparative jurisdictions was made in a bid to draft an all-inclusive act. Special attention was given to the aspects of rehabilitation and reformation of prisoners as well as to alternatives to incarceration as a solution for the overcrowding of prisons which is a key issue in Sri Lanka.
The committee which drafted the Bill comprised: Justice Hector Yapa (Chairman); Prof. S. T. Hettige, Faculty of Sociology, University of Colombo; Maj. Gen. V. R. Silva (RSP, USP, NDU 1G), Commissioner General of Prisons; Mr. H. G. Dharmadasa, Former Commissioner General of Prisons; Dr. Neil Fernando, Consultant Psychiatrist; Ms. Kamalini De Silva, Secretary , Ministry of Justice; Mr. Aruna Shantha De Silva, Deputy Legal Draftsman, Legal Draftsman’s Department; Ms. Malsiri Dias, Board Member, Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR); Mr. P. A. Herbert, Department of Prisons and Ms. Piyumanthi Peiris, Senior Assistant Secretary (Legal), Ministry of Justice.
The committee was appointed and mandated by the former Minister of Justice and Law Reforms Hon Milinda Moragoda.
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