- Legal reforms build international trust
- Making justice more affordable is important, says Min.
Legislative updates will continue next year with 60 Bills expected to be passed in 2024, Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said.
According to the Minister, 35 Acts were passed during the past 15 months with the aim of updating laws related to various fields, which he claimed helped gain the trust of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the process.
“We passed 35 Acts to update laws. In addition, we hope to pass more than 60 laws next year. It is because we introduced these reforms that the IMF trusted our country. As they supported us and provided us with funds, the country could be brought back to normal. If it did not happen, the country could have entered an abyss.”
Speaking to the media yesterday (17), he said that the people are facing various difficulties including those related to finance in going before the law. “We are talking about the rule of law, but people have to face various difficulties when they go before the law. They have to spend a lot of money. That is why there are several programmes in place to assist them. For instance, people can obtain the services of the Legal Aid Commission through its offices located at all courts.”
He also said that the Government had strengthened mediation boards as part of its programme to make it easier for the people to seek justice for their issues. “Last year, more than 100,000 complaints were referred to the mediation boards. About 70% of them have been resolved by now. Previously, complaints with regard to monetary matters could be referred to them subject to a limit of Rs. 500,000, but we increased it to Rs. 1 million. Through all this, the filing of about 70,000 legal cases could be prevented.”
Referring to the establishment of the Land Mediation Board in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to resolve land-related issues in those provinces, Dr. Rajapakshe said that the programme was very successful. Considering the success that the mediation board in the North and East achieved in resolving conflicts related to land, he said that the establishment of district-wise land mediation boards was done.