The Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association has reached out to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan on the draft bill for Personal Data Protection that was tabled in the Parliament of Sri Lanka in January 2022.
In a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Association pointed out that the most serious concern is that the draft law compromises the rights of journalists and limits the enjoyment of the right to information.
The Association highlighted that another serious concern is that it grants powers to conduct inquiries and issue punishments by one and same institution that is not a court of law.
Thereby, the Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association has called on Irene Khan to undertake an analysis of the draft bill and its implications on the rights and rule of law, and make interventions with the Sri Lankan Government to prevent any harmful effects.
Full statement:
A draft law (bill) for Personal Data Protection was gazetted on 25th November 2021 and tabled in parliament on 20th January 2022.
The gazette and draft bill came to our notice quite late and article 121 of the constitution provides only a week to challenge a draft bill that’s tabled in Parliament at the Supreme Court. We attempted to challenge some provisions of the bill by e-filing a petition on 27th January and filing a hardcopy petition on 28th January, but both petitions were dismissed on the technicality of being delayed.
Subsequently, we sent a letter to all Members of Parliament, the Right to Information Commission, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Attorney General, and other relevant authorities about our concerns on 2nd February 2022.
In this letter, we have set out in detail our concerns and suggestions to improve the bill. Amongst the most serious concerns we have is that the draft law compromises the rights of journalists, limits the enjoyment of the right to information, and grants powers to conduct inquiries and issue punishments by one and same institution that is not a court of law.
A critique of the draft bill is also published in the editorial of the Sunday Times newspaper of 13th February 2022, one of the most popular English Sunday newspapers in Sri Lanka. https://www.sundaytimes.lk/220213/editorial/data-protection-or-data-secrecy-472336.html
Unconfirmed information received by us indicates that the parliamentary debate on the draft law may happen on 22nd February 2022 after which it is likely to be enacted as a law, which cannot be challenged in a Sri Lankan court.
We kindly request you to undertake an analysis of the draft bill and its implications on rights and rule of law and make interventions with the Sri Lankan government to prevent any harmful effects. (NewsWire)