By Namini Wijedasa A European Union delegation will arrive tomorrow for a routine review of whether Sri Lanka’s level of adherence to 27 international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance warrants a continuation of the...
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GSP+ concessions withdrawal will mostly affect SMEs
By Sunimalee Dias Sri Lanka’s apparel industry wants a shift from the present trade concessions of a specific programme to something more stable like a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) while the risk of the withdrawal of the EU preferential trade pact will mostly impact the...
Did pushing aside Serum Institute’s local agent cause a vaccination delay in Sri Lanka?
ECONOMYNEXT – Replacing Sri Lanka’s local agent of the Serum Institute of India (SII) with the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) in procuring the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine would’ve led to a costly four-week delay in ordering the jab, a lawyer said. This...
Textile industry at risk amidst cautions of losing GSP+
Written by Staff Writer COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka’s textile industry is at a threat of being affected the most if the country is deprived of GSP+ concessions. Sri Lanka had exported commodities worth 2.08 billion Euros to European Union nations in 2020....
Poorly worded legal provisions can be construed to cover “fake news”: Sri Lanka lawyer
By Himal Kotelawala ECONOMYNEXT – Broadly and poorly worded provisions in Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Computer Crimes Act can be construed in bad faith to cover alleged falsehoods disseminated online, human rights lawyer Dr Gehan Gunatilleke...
Criminalizing Fake News
By Nishantha Hewage Intending to deconstruct preconceived notions of fake news and to give a legal perspective to it in a context where fake news is out rightly criminalised, and even those who are in connection with them are controversially arrested, was the theme of...
Second doses of Covishield: Government lab techs allege SPC delays
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The alleged delay on the part of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) in submitting the purchase orders to bring down the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishied Covid-19 vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is being blamed for the...
Lex-Falcon Awardees 2021
It gives us immense pleasure to announce that Dr. Gehan Gunatilleke has been chosen as one of the “Top 100 Lex-Falcon Awardees 2021” (Category: Legal) at the recently held, LexTalk World Conference on 7th & 8th April 2021 at Crowne Plaza, #Dubai.The Awardees were...
SC begins hearing Port City petitions
By S.S. Selvanayagam A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court yesterday heard presentations from four petitioners, including the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the United National Party (UNP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) who had filed petitions appealing...
Amending archaic laws
April 4, 2021 by Yumiko Perera A complex mixture of legal systems of Roman-Dutch Law, British Law, Kandyan Law, Thesavalamai, and Muslim Law, the legal framework of Sri Lanka is rich in diversity. The religious and colonial history of the country, tracing back from...
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: A tool of oppression?
February 7, 2021 by Uwin Lugoda Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities have long faced criticism over the manner in which they use the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The law has acted as the basis for several controversial arrests made...
Human Rights and Civil Society Dialogue in Sri Lanka
27 January 2021 | Online This event will be held on Zoom on 27th January, 14:30– 15:30 (GMT).This event features policy-relevant contributions by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin and Mario Gomez on the human rights and civil society implications of the use of extensive...
A Proposal for a New Chapter on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution
By Dr. Asanga Welikala (University of Edinburgh), Dr. Dinesha Samararatne (University of Melbourne, University of Colombo), Dr. Kalana Senaratne (University of Peradeniya), Dr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan (University of Oxford), and Dr. Gehan Gunatilleke (Harvard...
Sword of Damocles over Freedom of Expression?
Regulation on news websites by Kamanthi Wickramasinghe Media and the Government often don’t see eye to eye and this is applicable to most countries, be it democratic or not. Sri Lankan media platforms too have faced much censorship while many journalists also fell...
Curfew, Lockdown And Restrictions To Movement: On What Legal Basis?
Iman Saleem Most Sri Lankans have spent a considerable portion of this past year with some form of restriction to their movement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Western Province is currently in limbo — some parts of it isolated, and as of Wednesday...