SC to commence hearings of petitions challenging Port City bill today

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya will commence hearings at the Supreme Court today on petitions filed against the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill claiming that the proposed Commission violates Sri Lanka’s Constitution.

The other judges are: Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Murdu Fernando and Janak de Silva.

Among the 18 petitioners are the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the United National Party, the Smagi Jana Balawegaya, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Centre for Policy Alternatives, the President of the IT Professionals Association, and several other civil society members, including former LECO chairman Bandula Chandrasekara.

The petitioners have cited various clauses in the Bill which has been gazetted and are seeking a Supreme Court’s determination that one or more provisions of the bill require to be passed by a special majority in Parliament and approved by a referendum.

The moves came as concerns were expressed by political parties, professional organizations, civil society, and the public regarding the bill’s clauses giving sweeping powers to a commission.

The BASL Executive Committee appointed a committee to study the provisions of the Bill. One of the concerns of the Committee was that the Bill was placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on April 8, giving only one week for those intending to challenge the constitutionality of the Bill to do so.

“The Executive Committee of the BASL is extremely concerned about the limited time given for scrutiny and discussion of this important Bill, as well as the timing of placing the Bill on the Order Paper of Parliament, which was after the suspension of sittings of the Supreme Court, a time when many members of the legal profession are unavailable,” the BASL said in a media release.

It also highlighted Bill’s provisions that directly affect the judiciary and the legal profession.