The Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill was presented in Parliament on Wednesday by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
The Bill seeks to amend the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023, the law that consolidated Sri Lanka’s bribery and corruption statutes and restructured the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). It will now proceed through the normal parliamentary process for consideration.
The government indicated earlier this year that it intended to bring changes to the 2023 Act.
What the Bill changes
Updated August 20: Details of the amendments have since emerged. According to the Daily Mirror, the Bill amends Section 90 of the Anti-Corruption Act to allow a person to declare assets and liabilities after retirement, putting post-retirement declarations on a legal footing for the first time.
Section 88 is to be amended to clarify the declaration process and protect the privacy of declarations. Anyone who obtains a redacted version of another person’s declaration would be barred from using it for any purpose other than submitting it to an officer or institution under Section 86 of the Bill. Using a redacted declaration in violation of a person’s privacy would become an offence, punishable on summary conviction before a magistrate by a fine of up to Rs. 100,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
Section 84 is amended to provide for investigations into matters involving conflicts of interest.
The Bill also widens who the Act covers. Its provisions would extend to trade unions with more than 1,000 members, and to the proprietors, chairpersons and directors of media companies registered with the ministry responsible for mass media and licensed under Section 22 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act No. 25 of 1991.
The Anti-Corruption Act was enacted as part of the governance commitments Sri Lanka undertook alongside its International Monetary Fund programme, and gave CIABOC expanded investigative powers, including provisions covering asset declarations and international cooperation on corruption cases.
The Bill arrives during an unusually heavy legislative week. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution and a companion Judicature (Amendment) Bill were tabled on August 18 and have since drawn petitions in the Supreme Court, while a Bill to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act received Cabinet approval last week.
CIABOC has been active in recent days, arresting former minister Keheliya Rambukwella over allegations relating to a Sandagala project before he was released on bail.
