The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, this is the answer to the Question raised under Standing Order 27(2) by the Hon. Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa, on 2025.01.08.

¶ 02 1. The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 was enacted to address the then prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, namely preventing terrorist acts and unlawful activities by individuals, associations or organizations within or outside Sri Lanka. The Act has operated for about 46 years with various amendments.

¶ 03 Amendments, including Act No. 22 of 1988 and Act No. 12 of 2022, sought to align the Act with human rights and Sri Lanka’s international treaty obligations.

¶ 04 Successive governments have attempted to replace or limit this Act with new legislation. The previous government published a Bill in the Gazette on 2023.09.15; after presentation to Parliament, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging constitutionality. The Court in its determination indicated amendments necessary for passage. The Bill was also discussed for two days at the then Sectoral Oversight Committee.

¶ 05 I have submitted a Cabinet Memorandum to appoint a Committee chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Justice, to further study the Bill and provide observations and recommendations. Upon receiving recommendations, steps will be taken either to repeal the existing Act and introduce a new law or to take other appropriate action.

¶ 06 Answers to Questions 2, 3, and 4:

¶ 07 By letter dated 2025.01.08, the Counter Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID) has provided information, tabled as Annex 01.

¶ 08 Document tabled:

¶ 09 Annex 01: - Number arrested under PTA: 4,327 - Number charged under PTA: 1,418 - Charge-filing rate: 32.7% - Number not charged: 2,909 - Number referred for rehabilitation after court process: 1,734

¶ 10 Year-wise referrals to rehabilitation: 2007: 760 2009: 25 2010: 06 2011: 388 2012: 461 2013: 22 2014: 25 2015: 44 2016: 2 2018: 1 Total: 1,734

¶ 11 Number arrested under PTA and released as not guilty: 144

¶ 12 Answers to Questions 5 and 6:

¶ 13 By the 2022 amendment, a 72-hour maximum period of detention was introduced prior to further process. Previously, persons could be held on Detention Orders leading to human rights concerns; the amendment curtailed such issues.

¶ 14 Cabinet has approved my Memorandum to appoint an expert committee. Based on its recommendations, the Government intends to restrict the PTA and present a new Bill to Parliament.