Sri Lanka has gazetted a new Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill, which will repeal its controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with a legal framework that introduces judicial oversight, detention limits, review mechanisms and safeguards for media, protest and dissent.

The bill was published in a Gazette Supplement dated September 22.

If enacted, offences causing death could carry life imprisonment, while other terrorism offences could attract prison terms of up to 20 years and fines of up to 20 million rupees.

The proposed law criminalises joining or supporting proscribed organisations, recruitment, funding, terrorist training, dissemination of publications intended to induce terrorism and withholding information relating to terrorist offences.

Participation in protests, advocacy, dissent, strikes, lockouts or humanitarian and medical activities would not by itself be sufficient grounds to infer terrorism-related intent.

Arrested suspects must be produced before a magistrate within 48 hours, unlike under the PTA.

Detention orders can be issued for up to two months at a time by the Defence Ministry Secretary, but extension beyond two months needs High Court approval.

The total detention period under detention orders cannot exceed one year from the date of the initial order.

The bill also establishes an Independent Review Committee, chaired by a retired Supreme Court or Court of Appeal judge, to review detention orders and recommend whether they should be confirmed, varied or revoked.

Magistrates would be required to see suspects in camera, monitor their wellbeing and order medical examinations where there are allegations or suspicions of torture or ill-treatment.

Authorities would be required to notify next of kin, the Human Rights Commission and the Inspector General of Police of arrests.

The Human Rights Commission would be entitled to make unannounced inspections of approved detention facilities, while magistrates would be required to visit detention centres monthly.

The bill states that suspects must be treated humanely and granted access to lawyers and relatives.

Statements made to magistrates would be admissible only if procedural safeguards are met, including judicial medical examinations before and after recording statements.

The bill provides exemptions for journalism, academic research, legal proceedings, artistic expression and public-interest communications.

It states that ‘fair’ and ‘accurate’ reporting, commentary or analysis by journalists and media organisations, academic work, civil society advocacy and legitimate political discourse should not in themselves constitute offences under provisions dealing with inducement to terrorism or terrorist publications.

The bill retains powers for the President to proscribe organisations believed to be engaged in acts amounting to terrorism.

The bill formally repeals the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979, though ongoing investigations, trials and prosecutions initiated under the PTA would continue under transitional provisions.

The government says the new legislation seeks to balance national security requirements with constitutional rights, judicial oversight and international human rights standards.

Parliament will have to debate and approve the bill before it becomes law.

The Catholic Church has welcomed the court verdict against those convicted in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, but says the judgment should not be considered the end of efforts to uncover the full circumstances behind the bombings.

Speaking to reporters, Director of Mass Communications for the Archdiocese of Colombo, Rev. Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando, said the Church was satisfied that a verdict had been delivered after victims and their families had waited for years for justice.

He said the judgment would also send a strong message against religious extremism, stressing that religion should never be distorted to justify violence.

However, Fr. Krishantha said those convicted represented only one part of the case and called for investigations to continue into whether others were involved in facilitating the attacks or allowing them to take place.

He alleged that intelligence and security officials had sufficient information to prevent the attacks but failed to act, and called for investigators to establish whether there was any wider involvement or motive behind that failure.

Previous official inquiries have examined the handling of advanced intelligence, while the Supreme Court has also ruled on fundamental rights petitions concerning failures by senior officials.

Fr. Krishantha also called for further legal action, where supported by evidence, against individuals identified in previous investigations and commission recommendations, saying the Church would consider the justice process complete only after all those responsible for the attacks and any related failures were properly investigated.

The Church has consistently called for investigations to identify whether there were additional individuals behind the attacks and for those responsible to be prosecuted.

Sri Lanka’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is bleeding between Rs 6-7 million every single day, bringing the country’s public financial management back under the spotlight alongside fresh legal investigations into the 2013 Airbus aircraft procurement deal involving SriLankan Airlines.

The growing fallout covers both the long-standing financial burden of the underused airport and separate bribery and money laundering allegations tied to the national carrier’s aircraft purchase, with legal proceedings currently before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.

The real cost of the Mattala investment

The MRIA was opened in 2013 as a transport and economic hub for the Southern Province, with construction originally estimated at USD 209 million.

However, that figure eventually rose to USD 243.7 million by the time the project was completed using loan facilities from the Export-Import Bank of China.

Although the airport was designed to handle one million passengers and 45,000 metric tonnes of cargo annually, only 321,577 passengers passed through its terminals over the past six years combined.

In 2024 alone, the airport recorded operational costs of RS. 3.6 billion against revenue of just Rs. 242 million, leaving the Treasury to continue paying an annual interest instalment of Rs. 2.05 billion on the construction loans.

The clearing of forest land within a traditional elephant migration corridor to build the airport has also resulted in long-term environmental damage.

SriLankan Airlines was drawn deeper into the crisis when it was directed to route flights through Mattala in an effort to attract commercial traffic to the underperforming airport, a decision that cost the national carrier an additional Rs. 740 million in losses between 2013 and 2015 alone.

Years of non-commercial decisions and management shortcomings have since pushed the airline’s cumulative losses beyond 500 million US dollars, placing a heavy burden on the national economy.

Airbus deal

A separate but related dimension of the crisis concerns the USD 2.5 billion aircraft purchase agreement signed between SriLankan Airlines and Airbus in 2013.

The UK Serious Fraud Office and other international investigative agencies disclosed that a bribe of USD 16.84 million had been promised to intermediaries to secure the deal, with a portion allegedly laundered through bank accounts in Brunei and Singapore.

The government was ultimately forced to cancel the A350 aircraft order in 2015, incurring compensation payments of Rs. 18.8 billion.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), together with the Attorney General’s Department, has since launched comprehensive legal inquiries into the money laundering and bribery allegations surrounding the transaction.

Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court and remanded until 29 September, based on evidence indicating that he had received RS. 100 million in connection with the deal.

His defence lawyers argued before court that the allegations were baseless and challenged the credibility of the witness statements presented against him, with the ruling on his bail application also expected on 29 September.

Statements have separately been recorded from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the transaction, while investigations continue into the death of former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena, a key suspect in the case.

Efforts to resolve Mattala’s financial burden have included an earlier attempt to hand over airport operations to a joint venture involving India’s Shaurya Aeronautics, though international sanctions on the firm prevented the deal from proceeding.

The government is now examining several Public-Private Partnership proposals to manage the airport’s ground operations and commercial activities in collaboration with private investors, while retaining Air Traffic Control and national security functions under state control.

These efforts run alongside Sri Lanka’s broader external debt restructuring process under its IMF-supported programme, which is also being applied to loan facilities held by the national carrier and has paved the way for renewed international assistance towards infrastructure projects, including the second phase of development at Katunayake International Airport.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved awarding a contract to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited to build an aviation fuel storage complex and a dedicated transport pipeline to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.

The project is valued at 40.84 million US dollars alongside 8,548.75 million Sri Lankan rupees, inclusive of applicable taxes, minister Nalinda Jayatissa said.

The project involves building an aviation fuel storage tank complex with a total capacity of 92,000 cubic meters and related facilities at Muthurajawela.

A dedicated fuel transport pipeline will be constructed to link the new Muthurajawela storage facility directly to the aircraft refueling terminal at Katunayake.

The contractor will also carry out required modifications and upgrades to the existing terminal installations at Muthurajawela.

“Bids were invited following the international competitive bidding procedure, and three bids were submitted,” Jayatissa said.

Initial approval for the project was granted at a cabinet meeting on July 29, 2024, to establish a direct, secure fuel link between the supply hub and the country’s main international airport.

Aviation fuel is currently moved to Katunayake primarily by road bowsers and rail wagons, creating logistical bottlenecks, higher freight expenses, and safety risks.

The dedicated pipeline system is expected to ensure an uninterrupted, cost-effective supply of jet fuel to airlines as flight frequencies expand at the Katunayake gateway.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ruled that the 22nd Amendment to the country’s Constitution does not require approval of the people through a referendum and can be passed by a Parliament majority.

The court’s decision was read out by Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne at the start of the day’s session.

“I wish to announce that I have received the determination of the Supreme Court in respect of the Bill titled ’22nd Amendment to the Constitution’ and the ‘Judicature Amendment’, which were challenged in the Supreme Court under Article 121(1) of the Constitution.

“The Supreme Court has determined that the provisions of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill or any part thereof does not require approval by the people at a referendum by virtue of the provisions of Article 83 of the Constitution.

“In the proviso appearing in Clause 2 of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill, the phrase ‘the date reaching sixty-seven’ (හැට හතට එළඹෙන දිනය) appearing therein shall be replaced with the phrase ‘the date completing sixty-seven’ (හැට හත සම්පූර්ණ කල දිනය).

“The following to be added as the second proviso to Clause 2 of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill:
> ‘Provided further that the term limit of six years set out in the first proviso will not apply to any person holding the office of the Chief Justice as at the date of coming into operation of this Act.’
>
“The Supreme Court has further determined that the provisions of the Judicature Amendment Bill are not inconsistent with the Constitution and may be passed by the simple majority of the Parliament.
I order that the full determination of the Supreme Court to be printed in the Official Report of today’s proceedings.”

The president has said the government will move forward swiftly with passing the amendment, with a 2-day parliamentary debate scheduled for this week.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, opposition legislators and civil society members went to court against the amendment which seeks to extend the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, including the Chief Justice, and Appeals Court judges, among other things.

Judiciary concerns could hurt Sri Lanka’s foreign investments: Opposition leader

International law associations have expressed concerns over the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, primarily regarding its impact on judicial independence and the procedural integrity of the hearings.

The National People’s Power government claims that the constitutional amendment was introduced not to benefit a specific individual in the judiciary, insisting instead that the legislative changes are to clear the backlog of cases and improve efficiency across the judicial system.