Four Special Determination petitions challenging the Bill entitled “Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Amendment)” were filed before the Supreme Court by four petitioners including former MP Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera seeking a declaration that the Bill shall become law only through a two-third majority in Parliament and the approval of the people at a referendum.
When the four petitions came up before Supreme Court,further hearing into the petitions were fixed for June 20.
The petitioner Sarath Weerasekera stated that a bill entitled “Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Amendment)” was presented to the Parliament and placed on Order Paper of the Parliament on June 5, 2018.
The petitioner stated that Sri Lanka has submitted itself to the Universal Jurisdiction pertaining to several Criminal offences falling under international humanitarian law and human rights law and enacted several laws which make citizens of Sri Lanka subjected to the jurisdiction foreign courts and international criminal tribunals/courts.
Such laws include the principal Act, “Geneva Conventions Act No.4 of 2006”, “Convention against Torture and cruel inhuman or degrading punishment Act No.22 of 1994”,
“International Convention for the Protection of all persons from enforced disappearance Act No. 5 of 2018”,“Office of Missing persons Act No.14 of 2016”. Several of such crimes have retrospective effect.
The petitioner states that clauses 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22 of the said Bill, violate and thereby inconsistent with Articles 3, 4, 12(1), 12(2), 75, 154G of the Constitution inasmuch as; i. ii. iii. The above clauses of the Bill make the Executive to act and implement directions of foreign sovereignties which is amounting to alienation of the sovereignty of the people which is inalienable in terms of Article 3 of the Constitution.
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