November 09, Colombo (LNW): The Government has informed the Supreme Court of plans to revise several provisions of the proposed Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill, including the removal of offences covered by the Excise Ordinance and amendments to clauses dealing with intellectual property violations.
Appearing before the court today (09), Solicitor General President’s Counsel Viraj Dayaratne, representing the Attorney General, said the Government intended to entirely exclude provisions relating to offences under the Excise Ordinance from the proposed legislation.
He also revealed plans to revise the sections concerning copyright offences under the Intellectual Property Act, while further consideration would be given to provisions governing detention orders and the Bail Act.
According to the Solicitor General, the latter changes would be examined after additional consultations with policymakers. The Government intends to incorporate the proposed revisions during the Committee Stage of the Bill in Parliament.
He explained that the amendments had been formulated following discussions with policymakers and informed the court that copies of the proposed changes had been handed over to the Supreme Court as well as legal representatives appearing for the petitioners.
These developments emerged during the hearing of 26 petitions challenging the constitutionality of the proposed legislation. The matter was taken up by a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Sampath Abeykoon.
During the proceedings, Dayaratne expressed regret over the delay in making the proposed amendments available to the parties involved in the case.
Following the submission, President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, appearing for the petitioners, sought an hour to study the revised provisions and assess their implications.
The Solicitor General did not object to the request, following which the Supreme Court granted the additional time and suspended proceedings for one hour to enable the petitioners’ legal teams to examine the proposed amendments.
The proposed revisions are expected to form an important part of the ongoing constitutional review of the legislation before Parliament proceeds with its next stages of consideration.