by Sahan Tennekoon in The Daily Morning, Dec 27, 2023
The overcrowding of prisons in Sri Lanka is mainly caused by administrative shortcomings existing in the law enforcement and imprisonment mechanisms, and the rapid increase in crimes related to drugs, said the National Audit Office (NAO).
Issuing an audit report prepared by the NAO on the management of the overcrowding of prisons, it stated that the prisons in Sri Lanka currently occupy 232% of the maximum capacity of inmates. The said report noted that certain shortcomings that can be seen in the law enforcement mechanism and the procedures that are followed in imprisonment have mainly caused this situation. According to the report, the rapid increase in drug-related crimes acts as a catalyst in increasing the overcrowding of prisons. It further stated that most of the inmates have been imprisoned due to their inability to fulfill bail conditions even though the Judiciary has ordered their release on bail.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media yesterday (26), Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the Cabinet of Ministers has given its preliminary approval to draft a Bill to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure in order to address the relevant shortcomings existing in the country’s legal system and to update the existing laws in a more timely way. The Minister also noted that new laws which make it possible to reduce the time spent in remand from the total imprisonment are to be introduced. “We admit that our prisons are overcrowded. Certain shortcomings in our laws and judicial procedures have mainly caused it. Yet, we are working at the moment to bring new laws which could address the particular situation. The Cabinet has given its approval to draft a Bill to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure as well,” he said.
According to the Prisons Department’s statistics, the current prison capacity stands at 13,241 as of 2021, but the actual number of inmates far exceeds this, with approximately 29,000 individuals held earlier this year (2023).
https://www.themorning.lk/articles/a6Tmz8PZGEDoYNVFpKUP
