Law College Principal Dr. Athula Pathinayake stated that fees had to be increased as money is not allocated from the Treasury to maintain the Law College like other universities.
“Due to high expenses and the economic crisis, it is difficult to continue running the Law College without charging money,” the Law College Principal stated before the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Courts, Prisons and Constitutional Reforms.
The Ministerial Advisory Committee on Courts, Prisons and Constitutional Reforms met in Parliament under the chairmanship of Justice Minister Dr.Wijayadasa Rajapakshe.
A proposal to collect a membership fee from practising lawyers without burdening the students of the Law College was mooted and the chairman of the committee was of the opinion that it should be discussed further.
Also, attention was paid to the Extraordinary Gazette No. 2332/02 issued by the Council of Legal Studies on May 15 regarding the requirements for admission to the Law College. The Committee was of the opinion that it would cause a great injustice to the students who obtained the Bachelor of Laws degree or registered for the Bachelor of Laws degree before the issue of this gazette.
Also, the orders made by the Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reform Minister published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2314/80 dated 14th January 2023 and the order published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2328/16 dated 21st April 2023 was taken into consideration and approved by the committee.
State Ministers Anuradha Jayaratne, Sisira Jayakody, Arundika Fernando, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, MPs Gevindu Kumaratunga, Premnath C.Dolawatta and Ashoka Priyantha participated in this committee.
Swarna Wijekoon and Sandhya Karunaratne