21 October 2021 12:00 am Views - 82
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
Justice Minister M. U. M. Ali Sabry, PC agreed upon presenting two Bills and Regulations today under which sentencing minors to death will be removed, Parliament media unit said yesterday.
Accordingly, the Youthful Offenders (Training Schools) (Amendment) Bill, Penal Code (Amendment) Bill and the Regulations made by the Minister of Justice under Section 840 of the Civil Procedure Code (Chapter 101) read with Section 214 of the said Code and published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2234/67 dated 2nd July 2021 are being scheduled to be passed in Parliament post-debate.
The Youthful Offenders (Training Schools) (Amendment) Bill aims at amending the age limit of persons between ages 18 to 22 for rehabilitation. Previously only those who were below 18 were subjected to training schools to be rehabilitated.
The Bill also includes amendments for the purpose of being gender neutral. The amendment to the Penal Code establishes provisions to replace the verdict of death sentence being given to minors replacing it with custodial sentences.
State Minister Susil Premajayantha, Hon. Parliamentarians Sagara Kariyawasam, (Dr.) Suren Raghavan, Madhura Withanage, the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice M.M.P.K. Mayadunne and other officials were present at the consultative committee meeting.