Sri Lankan government revising the Prisons Ordinance

The Sri Lankan government is currently revising the Prison Ordinance and a new Prison Act will be presented to the parliament.

The current Prisons Ordinance has been in place since 1867. The new Prison Act is to be presented to the parliament in early 2011.
Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara told the media that there have been only three minor amendments to the Ordinance since it was passed.

He said that once the changes are made to the Act, it may not be called the Prisons Ordinance.

However the change in the name is expected to come into effect after the Act has been passed.

Gunasekara said that steps are being taken to ensure that remand prisoners are separated from convicted prisoners.