report in Daily FT,, 23 September 2023
The Lawyers’ Collective, a civil society group consisting of legal practitioners in Sri Lanka issued a statement yesterday
condemning the recently proposed Anti-Terrorism and Online Safety Bills which were published through gazette announcements this
year.
The collective said the Government has failed to respond to the serious and fundamental concerns raised about the Anti-
Terrorist Bill and adopt any transparent and accountable process through which the bills were explained, justified and robust
public consultation facilitated before they were gazetted.
“The definitions adopted for ‘terrorism’ and ‘false statement’, and related offences created under the two bills are
excessively broad and vague and thus do not represent a measured and proportionate means of serving specific and necessary law
and order objectives. Indeed, the Anti-Terrorism and Online Safety Bills represent an attempt to institutionalise excessive
executive discretionary power over a broad range of ordinary activities of the citizens of Sri Lanka,” they said.
The organisation said attempts to rush into the enactment of dangerous laws that have a high potential to crush dissent and
curb civil liberties can cause alarm at a time when the country’s democracy quotient is historically low.
“Citizens of this country are currently making a wide range of demands on their elected representatives and government
officials in the context of the deep economic crisis and the bearing it has on their lives. Democracy demands that the widest
possible space be created at this time to hear citizens’ grievances and to engage citizens and citizen groups, especially
vulnerable communities,” it added.
The Lawyer’s Collective also noted that the intolerance represented by the two proposed laws towards legitimate dissent,
critique, opposition and organising around different ideas and solutions for governance in Sri Lanka is a direct threat to
democracy, civil liberties and the role of the judiciary in protecting citizens’ sovereignty against executive capture.
They highlighted that recent Sri Lankan history is marked by terrible violence and social and economic devastation caused by
repressive approaches to unrest and inequality in our society and polity. The organisation stressed that at this moment the
legal profession has a role and responsibility to act to safeguard people’s treasured freedoms.
They demanded the withdrawal of the two bills and called for the adoption of a transparent process of consultative law-making
and the proposal of executive and legal measures that are proportionate and responsive to the needs of the people.
It also urged the Government to desist from enacting laws that will harm the very foundations of democracy in Sri Lanka. “Such
laws that grant the executive excessive powers to curtail citizens’ fundamental rights to freedom of expression and thought,
freedom of association, freedom of assembly and liberty erode the sovereignty of the people that is the very basis of Sri
Lanka’s constitution,” they noted.
The release was signed by Councils RienzieArsecularatne PC, Upul Jayasuriya PC, Dr. JayampathyWickramaratne PC, Geoffrey
Alagaratnam PC, Dinal Phillips PC, Saliya Pieris PC, Lal Wijenayake, Upul Kumarapperuma and Nuwan Bopege on behalf of all
members of the organisation.
https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Lawyers-urge-Govt-to-withdraw-new-anti-terror-and-online-safety-laws/44-753332
