Amendments to be introduced to Organised Crime Prevention Bill - AG tells court

Newsfirst, Newswire and WhatNews report that the Attorney General informed Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court that the Government intends to amend the Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill, which has been presented to Parliament. WhatNews dates the notification to November 9 and says the proposed changes are to be put forward during the parliamentary committee stage.

Daily Mirror reports that the planned changes include removing a provision that would allow a person’s links to organised crime to be inferred from tattoos, clothing or personal appearance. WhatNews reports proposals to restrict how criminal groups are defined, bring special detention powers under judicial control, and replace police-recorded confessions with statements made before a judicial officer.

WhatNews says the proposals respond to concerns that amendments the Attorney General’s Department had submitted to the Supreme Court were insufficient. Ada Derana and Hiru News report that the court completed its hearing on petitions concerning the bill. Ada Derana reports that the court’s determination was sent to the Speaker; its Sinhala-language report says it was also sent to the President.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.