For a few years now, there has been discussion about bringing in a composite law to repeal and replace the existing laws that fall under the purview of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), commonly known as the Bribery Commission. This proposed Anti-Corruption Bill in its draft form (as of 26th August 2022) has recently been shared with Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) by the Ministry of Justice. The Minister of Justice also requested TISL to share the Bill for public consultation.
The Bill contains chapters on the Establishment of the Commission, Director-General and the Staff of the Commission, Finance, Powers and Functions of the Commission, Protection of Informers, Whistleblowers, Witnesses, and other Persons assisting the Commission, Declaration of Assets and Liabilities, Substantive Offences or Offences relating to Bribery or Corruption, Procedural Offences and Offences relating to the Declarations of Assets and Liabilities. This Bill seeks to amend the following laws:
• Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Act, No. 19 of 1994
• Bribery Act, No. 11 of 1994
• Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law, No. 1 of 1975.
This Bill does not cover the subjects of international asset recovery and election campaign financing. We are reliably informed that there are advanced discussions about laws on those subjects at the Ministry of Justice and the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, respectively.
TISL invites the public to review and provide any specific feedback you might have about the proposed Bill by email to – tisl@tisrilanka.org, with the title “Feedback for Anti-Corruption Bill” at the earliest possible instance. While the timeline for bringing the Bill to Parliament is uncertain, TISL will pass on any feedback received to the Ministry of Justice.
