Sri Lanka to introduce ‘house arrest’ to address prison congestion

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms to prepare a draft bill for the introduction of legal provisions to retain suspects and offenders of cases under house arrest as a remedy to remanding.

Earlier, a committee chaired by a Supreme Court judge was appointed to furnish appropriate recommendations to introduce legal provisions to keep the suspects and offenders of cases under house arrest instead of them being imprisoned or remanded as a remedy to the issue of congestion in the prisons, which has been identified as a long-lasting issue in the prisons of the country. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved to instruct the Legal Draftsman to prepare a draft bill based on the report furnished by the said officers’ committee pertaining to the matter.