(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s long-awaited Right to Information Bill was presented to Parliament today as the first reading.

Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka presented the bill to the house.

On Tuesday, the new Government is optimistic that those parts of the 19th Amendment (19A) to the 1978 Constitution — cleared by the Supreme Court — would be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, notwithstanding undercurrents of a spoiler by lawmakers unhappy with the outcome of the January 8 Presidential election.

The Right to Information (RTI) Bill would be presented to Parliament on March 8.

Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Karunarathna Paranawithana told The Island that the RTI would be placed before Parliament next Monday for the first reading.

by Nalaka Gunawardene –
After many years of advocacy by civil society, Sri Lanka is set to adopt a law that guarantees citizens’ Right to Information (RTI).

With that, we will at last catch up with nearly 100 countries that have introduced such progressive laws. Better late than never – but passing the law is only a beginning. Institutionalising it requires effort and funds. Continued vigilance is needed on civil society’s part to guard against the process becoming mired in red tape.

Issuing a Advocate Letter ARTICLE 19 says that Right to Information Act put forward by the cabinet of Sri Lanka, which if passed as is, would be one of the best in the world. It has urged the lawmakers to pass the act.

Introduction
In giving necessary context to Sri Lanka’s draft Right to Information (RTI) law disseminated by the current Government in order to obtain feedback from citizens, a few matters need to be clarified. In substantial respects, this draft is the 2003/2004 Bill of the United National Front (UNF) administration. This is quite evident by the insertion of the Legislative Draftsman’s Department, LDO Number 23/2003 on the left hand side of the Bill.

The Right to Information Bill approved by the Sri Lanka cabinet of Ministers are now available on the Media Ministry website. The PDF version is given below. The Ministry has called for views, proposals, and comments on the draft Act on Right to Information to the following address or email address.

The new government of Sri Lanka has made the draft for Right to Information Act available for the people for their feed back. The draft has come under criticism from some activists on the basis that it does not provide full disclosure and secrecy clauses are too wide.

Concern grows as to what kind of RTI Bill Sri Lanka will enact :

by Rukshana Rizwie.

The actual worth of Sri Lanka’s RTI (Right to Information) law will be in its implementation, mechanism and how the media and citizens would use it after it is enacted. Sri Lanka had for too long good laws that lie inactive in the statute book.

The Right to Information Bill, which will be presented in Parliament soon, will have constitutional status, Media Ministry Secretary Karu Paranawithana said on Thursday (19).

He said the Bill is being drafted to enable the public to have access to information from public institutions and it is not about media freedom alone.