Law-making for the people must be with the people

LAW-MAKING in Sri Lanka is shrouded in secrecy, ambushes the general public and alienates people.

- By Ermiza Tegal and Nisara Wickramasinghe

The process of law-making, as practiced by successive Governments, is rarely open, transparent and accountable beyond observing the processes minimally set out in the Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament. As a consequence, Sri Lanka has enacted many bad laws, most recently the Online Safety Act of 2024, and continues to maintain many dangerous ones, including the egregious Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 which is used to harass and harm people to date.

In this context, it is necessary to examine the law-making process in Sri Lanka to demonstrate how it fails to be open, consult the people and be responsible for the impact that laws have on people's lives. This article also presents some recommendations to change the current undemocratic system that mocks the notion that sovereignty lies in the people.

Between 2022 and 2024, Sri Lanka witnessed a frenzy of law-making by a parliament that clearly did not have the popular support of the people, with over 100 new laws including amendments enacted. The then Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, M.N. Ranasinghe declared that 'the period from 2022 to 2024 will be historically significant for the highest number of law reforms in Sri Lanka'. This highlighted how the parliament, in both law and practice, is able to formulate and enact laws without any involvement of the people.

The lack of legal requirements and culture of governance that valued public consultation saw the economic crisis weaponised to create an unprecedented number of laws that failed to secure citizens' socio-economic rights. It brought the lack of people-centeredness in lawmaking into sharp focus, juxtaposed with the Sri Lankan public's call for 'system change' at the time.