The drafting of the revised “Protection of the State from Terrorism Act” (PSTA) — the planned replacement for Sri Lanka’s long-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) — has been completed and is set to be handed to the Minister of Justice within May, NewsFirst reported.
According to the drafting committee, the revised bill has been forwarded to the Legal Draftsman’s Department. The PSTA was prepared by a 17-member expert committee headed by President’s Counsel Rianzie Arsekularatne, with public consultations held in February 2026.
The PTA has been criticised for decades by civil society, the bar and international human-rights bodies for permitting prolonged detention without trial and admitting confessions to police as evidence. Successive governments have promised replacement legislation; the NPP administration campaigned on PTA repeal as part of its reconciliation platform but has so far moved cautiously, with the PTA still being used for high-profile detention orders in major criminal investigations.
The expert committee’s text is expected to face scrutiny once published. In April, a coalition of detainee families and civil society groups appealing for the release of long-term Tamil PTA detainees explicitly demanded that the proposed PSTA be withdrawn, arguing it could replicate the worst features of the existing law. The bill must still pass through Cabinet, gazette and parliamentary stages before becoming law, and the Justice Minister’s review will be the first political checkpoint after the drafting phase.
