The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration
The Minister of Justice and National Integration stated that no formal record was available on sentencing policy implementation, though the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute indicated that judges currently follow aspects of sentencing policy and guidelines reflected in Superior Court judgments. He said a 2023 committee chaired by a Supreme Court judge to formulate sentencing guidelines became inactive after the chair’s retirement and produced no report. The Ministry has decided to appoint a new committee, with former and/or new members, and nominations are being prepared.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 (a) (i) Not available. However, the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute has indicated that at present, judges adhere to dimensions of the Sentencing Policy and Guidelines to a certain degree as outlined in judgments and decisions being pronounced by the Superior Courts. (Annex*)
¶ 02 (ii) No. In the year 2023, a Committee led by a Supreme Court Judge was operational to formulate policies and guidelines for sentencing in criminal cases. However, following the retirement of the Supreme Court Judge who acted as the Chairman of this Committee, the activities of the Committee have ceased. Consequently, a Committee report has not been prepared.
¶ 03 (b) A decision has been made to appoint a new Committee consisting of members who were part of the former Committee and/or new members. At present, preparations are in progress to nominate members for the Committee.
¶ 04 (c) Does not arise.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 6 January 2026 ·No. 23111 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 January 2026. No. 23111. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/17685