• Likely to be pushed to yr-end due to Budget following removal from P’ment Order Book 

The date of tabling the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) to the Parliament remains uncertain since it has been removed from the Parliamentary Order Book as it has not been tabled in the Parliament on 3 October as planned.

Making a special announcement yesterday (18), Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana told the Parliament that the revised ATB has been removed from the Parliamentary Order Book since it has been withdrawn by the Leader of the House, attorney Dr. Susil Premajayantha without tabling it in the Parliament. He also announced that he was informed by the Secretary to the Leader of the House that the Bill was not tabled in the Parliament on 3 October.

Meanwhile, when contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Wasantha Perera said that the Ministry is waiting for the Parliament to give a date to table the Bill. She also said that the Parliamentary calendar is packed with several debates including on the Appropriation Bill for 2024, and that therefore, it will most likely be tabled towards the end of this year (2023).  

Earlier, in September of last year (2022), the Cabinet of Ministers approved the submission of the Anti-Terrorism Bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman, in order to replace the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act. Accordingly, the relevant Bill had been published in the Government gazette on 22 March 2023. Later on, local and international parties interested in this regard forwarded their opinions regarding the Bill, and the Ministry of Justice then formally called for their suggestions and opinions regarding the matter. Accordingly, necessary steps had been taken to revise the original draft of the Bill, published in the Government gazette, and to redraft the Bill, in consideration of all the opinions and suggestions received by the Ministry in this regard.