Anti-Terrorism bill presented to Parliament

The proposed Anti-Terrorism bill which will replace the current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was presented to the parliament by Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe a short while ago.

On September 05, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to publish the Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was revised in accordance with the suggestions and opinions received by different parties in the government gazette, and to table the bill in parliament for passing.

Although the original draft bill had been published in the government gazette on March 22, 2023, it was later revised and re-drafted in consideration of all the opinions and suggestions received by the Ministry of Justice by various interested parties in this regard both locally and internationally.

However, the relevant bill created much controversy within the country, whereas several parties also filed multiple petitions challenging the bill. Nevertheless, the Attorney General informed the Supreme Court on October 13 that the relevant petitions could not be taken up for hearing since the Anti-Terrorism Bill had not been presented to the parliament at the time.