A parliamentary oversight committee has discussed amending the Prisons Ordinance, opening work camps and referring drug addicts to rehabilitation rather than prison, as part of a continuing effort to reduce overcrowding in Sri Lanka’s jails.
The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection took up the measures when it met at Parliament under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Najith Indika, the Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday.
What was proposed
The proposals before the committee included:
- legislative amendments to the Prisons Ordinance
- establishing open prisons and work camps
- conditional release of inmates
- directing prisoners with good conduct towards employment opportunities
- strengthening the mechanism for referring people with drug addiction to rehabilitation centres instead of prison
The committee also reviewed measures to clear the backlog of reports at the Government Analyst’s Department — increasing staff capacity, improving transport facilities and expanding overtime services.
Discussion further covered the legal and administrative reforms needed to address overcrowding, with particular attention to coordination between the Ministry of Justice and National Integration and the Department of Prisons.
Why the Government Analyst backlog matters
Delays in forensic reports keep unconvicted suspects in remand custody, and clearing them has already been credited with moving numbers. The Department of Prisons said in October that the inmate population had fallen by about 6,000, from roughly 42,000 to 36,000, attributing the drop to faster issuance of those reports. Even after that fall, the population stood at about 36,000 against a designated capacity of nearly 15,000, and roughly seven in ten inmates were remand prisoners rather than convicts.
The committee has been holding a series of discussions with stakeholders on overcrowding; it previously examined the 22A judicature amendment under the same chair.
A note on the meeting date
The Daily Mirror filing says the committee met “recently (23)” and gives no month. The report itself was published on 3 November, so the sitting took place before that date — most likely 23 October — but this desk cannot confirm the month from the filing alone.
Not reported
The filing does not say which proposals the committee endorsed, whether any amendment will be tabled, what timeline was set, or which stakeholders attended. No second verified newsroom had carried this committee report at the time of writing.