A proposal seeking to grant the power to pardon prison inmates, which is currently held only by the President, to the Minister of Justice as well, was submitted to the Ministry this morning (October 21).
The proposal was submitted by a committee appointed by former Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda and headed by former Supreme Court judge Hector Yapa.
After the proposal was handed to him, Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem stated that the proposal will be presented to parliament while he hopes to seek the cabinet’s approval for it.
According to the proposal, the Justice Minister would have the same power as the President to pardon prison inmates based on good behavior.
The proposal also seeks to allow prisoners, who are serving long sentences, to be released for a period of one week, based on their behavior, prior to their sentences being fully served while prison officials will monitor the inmate during the probation period.
If the prisoner’s behavior during the probation period is deemed satisfying, then the Minister of Justice would have the ability to pardon him from serving the remainder of his sentence.
The proposal also covered several aspects of the prison officials’ welfare, Hector Yapa stated.
