The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration
Community-based corrections placed about 17,000 offenders under supervision without custodial sentences last year, and the Ministry plans to expand this programme. The Minister said NGOs and voluntary groups assist those unable to pay fines, but emphasized that prison overcrowding is driven mainly by remandees rather than fine defaulters. He stated that Government Analyst report delays are being addressed through Public Service Commission-approved recruitment of 50 analysts, with 32 more to follow, aiming to issue reports within about three months to support bail decisions.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Community-based corrections are being used to place offenders under supervision. Last year alone, about 17,000 were supervised in the community without custodial sentences. We expect to increase this target this year.
¶ 02 For those unable to pay fines, voluntary and non-governmental organizations come forward; we facilitate such efforts. The main driver of overcrowding is remandees; fine payment does not affect them. We are expediting Government Analyst reports; approval has been obtained to recruit 50 analysts via the PSC, with 32 more to follow. Our aim is to clear reports within about three months, enabling bail decisions. We expect to complete recruitments and proceed in the first half of this year.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 20 January 2026 ·No. 23200 ·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, 20 January 2026. No. 23200. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8917