The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara raised a point of order concerning the scheduling of the Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill, arguing that Article 78(1) of the Constitution and Standing Order 52(5) require seven full days after Gazette publication before a Bill is placed on the Order Paper. He contended that, if the Gazette was published on the 31st, the required period would only end at midnight on the 7th, so the Bill should be taken up at the next sitting. He stated that the objection was procedural rather than substantive and warned that proceeding immediately could invite a Supreme Court challenge.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Sir, I rise to a point of order under Standing Order 92(2)(a), regarding the Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill you intend to present (repealing Act No. 4 of 1986). I kindly request you to read Article 78(1) of the Constitution which states that every Bill shall be published in the Gazette at least seven days before being placed on the Order Paper. Standing Order 52(5) also states that after the expiration of seven days from the date of such publication, it may be placed on the Order Paper.
¶ 02 Counting from Gazette publication on the 31st, we should not count the 31st if published at midnight; then 1st to 7th are the seven days, completing only at midnight today. Therefore, it should be taken at the next sitting. Otherwise, this procedural lapse could be challenged in the Supreme Court. We do not oppose the Bill, but it must be done properly.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 7 August 2025 ·No. 1755509552009433 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 August 2025. No. 1755509552009433. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/24293