Colombo (LNW): The Cabinet of Ministers has shed its green light for the gazetting of the newly drafted bill for the proposed Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA), a replacement to the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), with intentions to table it in Parliament for approval.
The Act, according to the government, was spearheaded by the Legal Draftsman and was initially published in the Government Gazette in March 2023, only to meet a severe backlash from a number of parties, including the civil society, political parties of the Opposition and human rights groups concerning what they described as questionable provisions in the draft bill.
The Justice Minster thereafter had sought feedback and suggestions from stakeholders to the dialogue and even personally got involved in some of the focus group discussions.
Following revision, a collective feedback was received to the proposed ATA bill and the Legal Draftsman undertook the task of amending the original version that had earlier seen the light in the Government Gazette.
The clearance of the Attorney General has also been granted for the new draft bill upon review, and subsequently, with the nod from the Cabinet, the ATA bill is set to be gazetted, later to be tabled in Parliament.
