A FRESH BILL OF RIGHTS: FOREVER A FARCE?
Sachin Parathalingam-8 Aug, 2013
In 2009 , the then Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights (hence disbanded) ‘sought to remedy’ the many deficiencies that exist in the current fundamental rights chapter of the 1978 constitution. The Ministry appointed a committee chaired by Presidents Counsel Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, tasked with the preparation of a fresh Bill of Rights to replace the present chapter on fundamental rights .The proposed draft, which mooted a significant expansion in the current fundamental rights chapter which is sans basic rights, for instance the “Inherent right to life” , was presented to then Minister of Human Rights Mahinda Samarsinghe in November 2009. Nothing has been heard of it since then.
