Right to Information

The paucity of information on the use of public funds in Sri Lanka has typically impeded the public from holding the government accountable for its spending. The lack of visibility tends to leave mismanagement, poor planning and a lack of accountability undetected, which has resulted in the poor implementation of budget proposals in each budget […]

Media Release/2019 June  03. The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the abrupt suspension of the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) live proceedings, which was probing the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks since it is a violation of people’s right to information. There is great apprehension and concern among the public about the failure to prevent these attacks despite the intelligence information […]

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz. Sri Lanka was the last country in South Asia to adopt the Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2017. For many of us who were involved in discussions with our Sri Lankan counterparts before adoption of the law, it is gratifying to note the progress it has made in these […]

Issuing a media statement the Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka says that “the RTIC is concerned that a ‘chilling effect’ may be created by this general prohibition. This concern is reinforced by the fact that the Bill provides that any ‘member or person or qualified auditor who communicates any such matter to any […]

The country’s much-vaunted Right to Information Act has been hailed as a major breakthrough in the field of information dissemination. While the intentions may be good, in the operations aspect, there is much to be desired. We,randomly,checked the websites of Ministries and tried contacting Information officers for feedback and here are some of our findings. […]

Image: waiting for the jobs. Thursday August 24th 2017 –  Information on state recruitments and alleged irregularities or malpractices in government/ provincial councils, overseas travel details of politicians, unauthorised constructions, audits of school development societies, compensation payments for land acquisitions, information on school admissions, rental agreements entered into by public corporations and a variety of other […]

Image: Right to Information includes covering conflict situations. By Namini Wijedasa. The word ‘Espionage’ dropped, but originally listed offences reintroduced. The Counter Terrorism Act policy framework approved by the Cabinet this week has reintroduced  offences originally listed under “espionage”– whilst merely removing the word “espionage” from the document. As such, the draft makes it an […]

A civil group, “the Collective for Decent Lanka” has requested the Right to Information Commission to make public its financial and cadre requirements and  recruitment criteria to make sure that its employees including the Director General are appointed in a transparent and independent manner. The letter follows: Chairman Right to Information Commission Room No. 203-204 […]

The officials at the Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Ministry has told Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka  that  a new Media Commission Bill will be enacted shortly by the Government. Ministry Secretary H.D.S. Malkanthi has futher told him that there is no system to respond to the electronic media when a person was attacked repeatedly. This was revealed […]

Sri Lanka has reached third best place in the RTI global ranking. Mexico and Serbia are in the first and second places. Simultaneously Sri Lanka becomes the best in South Asia, by passing India says Canadian based RTI watch-dog Center for Law and Democracy (CLD). “Countries often go up a few points on the RTI […]

Image: If they suspect of whereabouts of missing children parents can now request relevant information. Sri Lanka’s Right to Information (RTI) Act came  into effect from 3 February 2017. Right to Information has been a decades long struggle spearheaded by press freedom organisations in the country. Public Authorities have a lot of information that is […]

The Right to Information that has been much hyped by the leaders of the Yahapalanaya government in the recent past seems to be one of the main issues not or less understood by the same leaders and the officials under them. Some bigwigs arrogantly scorn at and ridicule the media men in public when the […]

The Constitutional Council has recommended Prof. Savithri Goonasekera, attorney-at-law Kishali Pinto Jayawardena, former judge Salim Marsoof, former Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry Secretary Neil Rupasinghe and Prof. N. Sivakumaran as members of the proposed Right to Information (RTI) Commission, and awaits presidents approval says the Island. The report further says that  a decision by the […]

By  R.Sampanthan. Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member. We are debating an important Bill, the Right to Information Bill in the House today. This Bill should have been brought to Parliament a long time ago, but unfortunately, that did not happen. The Right to Information Law has been passed in many countries world over and is […]

The Supreme Court has apprised the Parliament some sections of the Right to Information bill are not consistent with the constitution thus it needs a two third majority, the Speaker announced today. The observation was made when this was discussed at today’s Parliament section, Ada Derana reporter said. The Speaker has also said it required […]

(SLB) Last week Supreme Court of Sri Lanka heard number of cases filed in relation to  the  Sri Lanka’s Right to Information Bill which has been tabled in the parliament.  Earlier   3 petitions were filed against the bill on the ground that right to information will jeopardise the national security. In response to those petitions […]

Attempts to put operations of Sri Lanka’s central bank out of the ambit of a draft ‘Right to Information’ bill are wrong and will deny economic democracy to the people, a top economist and former central banker has said. W A Wijewardene, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka says through […]

By Chandani Kirinde. The long-awaited Right to Information (RTI) Bill that seeks to give every Sri Lankan the right of access to information which is in the possession, custody or control of a public authority was presented to Parliament on Thursday by Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Media Gayantha Karunatillake. The Bill which was gazetted […]

(LBO) – Sri Lanka’s long-awaited Right to Information Bill was presented to Parliament today as the first reading. Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka presented the bill to the house. The speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday informed Parliament that the bill has been passed through all provincial councils subjected to certain amendments. “Western, North […]

The Right to Information (RTI) Bill would be presented to Parliament on March 8. Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Karunarathna Paranawithana told The Island that the RTI would be placed before Parliament next Monday for the first reading. Deputy Minister said the government had incorporated as many amendments as possible into the […]

Issuing a Advocate Letter  ARTICLE 19 says that Right to Information Act put forward by the cabinet of Sri Lanka, which if passed as is, would be one of the best in the world. It has urged the lawmakers to pass the act. The Advocacy Letter reproduced here in full: ARTICLE 19 urges the Sri Lankan […]

The Right to Information Bill approved by the Sri Lanka cabinet of Ministers are now available on the Media Ministry website. The PDF version is given below. The Ministry has called for  views, proposals, and comments on the draft Act on Right to Information to the following address or email address. Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary […]

Concern grows as to what kind of RTI Bill Sri Lanka will enact : by Rukshana Rizwie. Nalaka Gunawardene Pic: Courtesy lightmillenium.org The actual worth of Sri Lanka’s RTI (Right to Information) law will be in its implementation, mechanism and how the media and citizens would use it after it is enacted. Sri Lanka had […]

On Tuesday, the new Government is optimistic that those parts of the 19th Amendment (19A) to the 1978 Constitution — cleared by the Supreme Court — would be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, notwithstanding undercurrents of a spoiler by lawmakers unhappy with the outcome of the January 8 Presidential election. While there is […]

by Nalaka Gunawardene – After many years of advocacy by civil society, Sri Lanka is set to adopt a law that guarantees citizens’ Right to Information (RTI). With that, we will at last catch up with nearly 100 countries that have introduced such progressive laws. Better late than never – but passing the law is only a beginning. […]

[Mission Members met with Media Minister] PRESS RELEASE: INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MISSION TO SRI LANKA / 3 March 2015 A clear perception of increased media freedom in Sri Lanka since the Jan. 8 presidential election must be made permanent through a series of critical reform measures, an international media mission said today. The mission observed a […]

by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena and Venkatesh Nayak- Introduction. In giving necessary context to Sri Lanka’s draft Right to Information (RTI) law disseminated by the current Government in order to obtain feedback from citizens, a few matters need to be clarified. In substantial respects, this draft is the 2003/2004 Bill of the United National Front (UNF) administration. […]

The new government of Sri Lanka has made the draft for Right to Information Act available for the people for their feed back. The draft has come under criticism from some activists  on the basis that it does not provide full disclosure and secrecy clauses are too wide. The draft RTI of Sri Lanka: Draft […]

The Right to Information Bill, which will be presented in Parliament soon, will have constitutional status, Media Ministry Secretary Karu Paranawithana said on Thursday (19). He said the Bill is being drafted to enable the public to have access to information from public institutions and it is not about media freedom alone. “There are reservations […]

by ARTICLE 19. ARTICLE 19 welcomes the new government’s commitment to creating a long awaited right to information law. However the draft requires some improvement and clarification before it is adopted. A draft Right to Information Bill was shared by the new Sri Lankan Government with stakeholders last week and is due to be presented […]