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Posts tagged as “bill”

Supreme Court dismisses petitions challenging Anti-Terrorism Bill

By Yohan Perera in Daily Mirror, Nov 7, 2023COLOMBO- The Supreme Court has dismissed the petitions filed against the Anti-Terrorism Bill. Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapaksa announced a short while ago in Parliament that the Supreme Court has informed that it cannot examine the Bill because it has not yet been included in the order book.https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Supreme-Court-dismisses-petitions-challenging-Anti-Terrorism-Bill/108-270756

Lawyers warn of death knell for internet, freedom of expression by online safety bill

report in Daily Mirror, Oct 23, 2023The Bar Association, media institutions, advocacy groups, and more than 40 other petitioners challenged the Online Safety Bill in a two-day hearing before the Supreme Court judges Priyantha Jayawardhene, Achala Wengappuli, and Shiran Gunarathne last week. The petitioners warned that the Bill provides very little online safety but is drafted to stop people from expressing ideas and views on the internet and social media. They showed how the Bill…

UN concerned over Anti-Terrorism Bill and Online Safety Bill

report in The Island, Oct 15, 2023The UN Human Rights Office has raised serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament – the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill. Issuing a statement, the UN Human Rights Office said the bills give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can also impose restrictions on human rights, not in line with international human rights law. The Anti-Terrorism Bill is intended…

Senate panel alarmed at bill on public executions

report in The Express Tribune, Oct 14, 2023ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on Friday took exception to a bill passed by the Standing Committee on Interior regarding public executions, saying that the legislation was green-lighted without appreciating the seriousness of the matter from a human rights perspective. The committee met with its Chairman Walid Iqbal in the chair. He told the committee that in the last few days, he had been flooded…

After protests, Sri Lanka Minister agrees to consult controversial Online Safety Bill

report in Economy Next, Oct 6, 2023 at 08:09 pmSri Lanka’s Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, who has tabled a controversial Online Safety Bill (OSB) in the parliament, has agreed to have broader consultation with key stakeholders before voting in the legislature. Opposition parties, media organizations, and social media activists have raised concerns over the government move to introduce the bill. Though the government initially said the expected legislation was to protect children and women…

SJB and SLPP move SC against Online Safety Bill

Report in The Island, Oct 5, 2023The General Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, SJB’s Rehan Jayawickrema, and Nidahas Janatha Sabhawa (SLPP rebel group) representative Prof. G.L. Peiris, MP, filed a joint petition yesterday (04) against the Online Safety Bill. They named the Attorney General as respondent. The petitioners HAVE pointed out that the Bill published in the government Gazette on 18 September and presented to Parliament on Tuesday (03),…

’I settled controversial Rs. 2.6 mn electricity bill for MP Namal Rajapaksa’s wedding’: Sanath Nishantha

by Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama in Daily Mirror, Oct 3, 2023The controversial unpaid Rs. 2.6 million electricity bill of MP Namal Rajapaksa, which was being circulated on social media under the letterhead of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), was settled today by State Minister for Water Supply Sanath Nishantha. The State Minister in a statement said that he settled the bill out of respect to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had ended the war, and because…

Political opponents censure president over bill debacle

by Syed Irfan Raza in Dawn, August 21st, 2023ISLAMABAD: Leaders from across the political spectrum — including the PTI’s opponents — reacted to President Arif Alvi’s claim of being undermined by his staff, with some demanding his resignation after he claimed he had not signed the two bills that were passed into law recently. Representatives of the country’s leading political parties said Mr Alvi had marred the sanctity of his office by putting an important…

Conflict victims and rights activists are sceptical about government’s intentions

Report in The Kathmandu Post, Aug 5, 2023As a parliamentary panel prepares to finalise a bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, the insurgency victims, human rights activists and civil society members staged a sit-in in the Capital on Friday to pressure the committee to correct flawed provisions in the bill. Carrying placards with various slogans, they demanded the sub-committee of the Law and Justice Committee of the House of…

Congress top leaders against prosecution in ‘non-cruel’ murder

by Binod Ghimire in The Kathmandu Post, Aug 3, 2023Office bearers of the ruling Nepali Congress, the largest parliamentary party, have concluded that there can be no changes in the categorisation of the insurgency-era human rights violations listed in the bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act. A meeting of the top leaders chaired by President Sher Bahadur Deuba decided that prosecution would be pursued in cases of serious violations…

Under JSP pressure, usury bill tweaked to heed lenders’ issues

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, July 18, 2023The bill criminalising usurious lending endorsed by the House of Representatives on Sunday has sought to address the concerns of the lenders also. The last-minute tweak was made under pressure from the ruling Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), which had been opposing the bill. The bill, which replaced an ordinance, was earlier endorsed by the National Assembly on June 30. The ordinance brought by the government…