UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Marc-André Franche has said the country’s laws are developed in a closed process and frequently drafted without adequate technical or public input, singling out the Online Safety Act as “absolutely unimplementable,” the Daily FT reported.
The remarks come from the recording of his meeting with Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, which Premadasa released in full last week.
The drafting problem
Franche said the difficulty was not only one of democratic process — with laws developed solely between the Ministry, the Legal Draftsman and the Attorney General — but that laws end up badly written as a result.
“One could have a debate about the substance, and if this is good or bad, but it’s also a very, very bad law, because it is absolutely unimplementable,” he said of the Online Safety Act, enacted under the previous government, adding that those who drafted it knew very little about the internet.
He described this as a pattern rather than an isolated case. Drawing on his experience in Canada, he said parliamentary committees there are obliged to bring in every stakeholder affected by a law before it passes. Applied to the Online Safety Act, he said, that would have meant hearing from internet companies, journalists, police, and groups representing young people and women, with their input formally recorded.
On the 22nd Amendment
Franche said any change to a constitution requires the broadest possible consultation, because it alters the fundamental law of the country. “A constitution should not be changed every week,” he said.
He noted that the UN had not engaged directly in the 22nd Amendment process. He pointed instead to a letter the UN Independent Expert on the independence of the judiciary sent the government, raising three concerns drawn from international experience: the importance of consultation, the design of transitional measures for those serving under existing arrangements, and the conflict of interest that arises where affected individuals must rule on changes affecting themselves.
Franche said he had met the Justice Minister, who pointed to Sri Lankan precedents where the Supreme Court had ruled on matters affecting its own members. He said he hoped the Special Rapporteur’s opinion would add useful elements to the public debate.
Parliament is due to vote on the 22nd Amendment on Friday, after the Supreme Court determined it does not require a referendum.
Not reported
The Daily FT does not publish the text of the Independent Expert’s letter or say when it was sent, and no other verified newsroom had reported this portion of the recording at the time of writing.
