The Cabinet of Minister today approved the proposal presented by Minister of Justice to amend the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No.04 of 2015.

The Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No.04 of 2015 provides a number of benefits to victims and witnesses. However, in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 of that Act, a request should be made to the Court of Appeal for bail. Due to this the suspects and the accused have to face inconvenience. In particular, since the Court of Appeal is located in Colombo, the suspects residing in remote areas have had difficulty in filing the bail application. Therefore, it has been found appropriate to amend the Court of Appeal as the High Court granting bail in place of the Court of Appeal.

It has also been found that it is appropriate to amend the provision that "a suspect should be remanded until the end of a trial" as "a remand for as long as the court deems fit".