8/13/2019 Sri Lanka Parliament Re-Enacts the Draconian 48 Hour
Detention Bill
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Sri Lanka Parliament re-enacts the draconian 48 Hour Detention
Bill
By Sanjaya Jayasekera. 25thJanuary 2!"
In realization of another step toward the building of the
boundary walls of a police state, Sri
Lanka government caused the long awaited piece of legislation
passed in the parliament which
allows the detention of a person arrested without warrant in
Police custody for 48 hours for !listed offences which include
inter alia murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, and
offences committed with the use of e"plosives or an offensive
weapon or gun#
Immediately in the aftermath of the saga of infamy impeachment
of the country$s %hief &ustice
Shirani 'andaranayake in the week before and appointing
President (ahinda )a*apakshe$s kith
(ohan Peiris in her place, the immediate ne"t in agenda of
)a*apakshe$s government was to
pass the %riminal Procedure %ode +Special Provisions -mendment
-ct of ./0# 1he act wastaken for debate in Parliament on (onday,
&anuary . and on the following day, the bill was
passed in Parliament / voting for and 00 against the 'ill# 1he
main opposition, the 2nited
3ational Party +23P and &anatha imukthi Peramuna+&P and
1amil 3ational -lliance +13-
voted against the 'ill#
1he 'ill was placed before the Parliament by the &ustice
(inister for the first time on 5ctober last year# -n application
was filed in the Supreme %ourt challenging the constitutionality of
the
'ill and the Supreme %ourt decided that %lause 8 of the 'ill, as
published in the gazette on
September . last year, was inconsistent with -rticle 0+. of the
%onstitution which providesthat every person held in custody,
detained or otherwise deprived of personal liberty shall be
brought before the *udge of the nearest competent court
according to procedure established by
law, and shall not be further held in custody, detained or
deprived of personal liberty e"cept uponand in terms of the order
of such *udge made in accordance with procedure established by
law6#
1he %ourt therefore held that the 'ill re7uired twothird
ma*ority in the Parliament for it to
become law or else the said %lause should be removed before
passage# 9owever, the 'ill waspassed on a simple ma*ority without
amendment or removal of %lause 8, openly fllouting andbypassing the
determination of the Supreme %ourt#
:uite undemocratically, section 8 of the 'ill provided for the
retrospective validation of all
arrests and detentions made or functions e"ecuted during the
period from (ay 0, .//; to the
effective date of the new -ct# -rticle 0 of the Sri Lankan
%onstitution provides for freedom
from arbitrary arrest and, under Section 0< of %ode of
%riminal Procedure prior to the presentamendment, a suspect could
be kept in police custody only for .4 hours before producing
before
a (agistrate, whereat the suspect could be either granted 'ail
or remanded in prison for a
ma"imum period of 4 days before a second production of the
suspect before the magistrate#
3ow, section . of the amendment -ct provides for the police to
detain a suspected person in
police %ustody for 48 hours upon an order made on that behalf by
a magistrate on a certificateissued by a police officer from and
above the rank of Superintendent of Police# It is obvious that
the magistrate=s order is left to be nothing but a rubber stamp
on the certificate of the Police# 1his
new law is even contrary to -rticle ; of the 2niversal
>eclaration of 9uman )ights, whichprovides that no one shall be
sub*ected to arbitrary arrest, detention or e"ile#
8/13/2019 Sri Lanka Parliament Re-Enacts the Draconian 48 Hour
Detention Bill
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1he -ct also provides sweeeping powers to the -ttorney ?eneral
who can file direct indictments
in the 9igh %ourt and forward cases from (agistrate court to the
9igh %ourt under 6aggravating
circumstances or circumstances that give rise to public dis7uiet
in connection with thecommission of an offence6# In such
circumstances the (agistrate should not hold a preliminary
in7uiry and is bound to forward records to the -ttorney ?eneral,
wait for his instructions and
abide by same# 1he -ttorney ?eneral is a government officer
appointed by the President and in.// )a*apakshe took over the
-ttorney ?eneral department under his e"ecutive authority#
@urther, the -ct also provides for the abolition of nonsummary
proceedings in the magistrate
courts, allowing for hurried prosecution#
It was on (ay 0, .//! that this law was originally implemented
for a period of two years and
then the same having been e"tended for another two years it
lapsed in .//;# 1he new-mendment goes in line with the similar
special provisions -ct 3o#4. of .//
8/13/2019 Sri Lanka Parliament Re-Enacts the Draconian 48 Hour
Detention Bill
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1he passage of this law implies the deep rooted fears of the
)a*apakshe government about the
impending dangers from the working class# 1he government has
been shown to be silent aboutthe recent anti(uslim protests staged
by 'odu 'ala Sena, a Sinhala'uddhist e"tremist
organization funded and taken care of by big Sinhala businessmen
with the help of the
government security# 1hese groups are yet to grow as
paramilitary groups to crack down uponcountry$s ethnic minorities
and these repressive laws are to be used e"tensively#
1he democratic rights of the working people can be protected not
by agitation and protests topressurize the government to withdraw
the repressive laws and oppressive mechanisms, but by
uprooting the capitalist profit system and the government that
serves and is dependent on it# 1his
re7uires the independent political mobilization of the working
class for International Socialism,
which programme is denied by pseudolefts and the &P along
with its runaway fraction, @rontLine Socialist Party +@LSP#
