The Sri Lankan Speaker’s Office has deemed recent reports surrounding the much-disputed Online Safety Bill as ‘ill-informed and baseless’, while rejecting claims that the Bill was passed in violation of the Supreme Court’s determination.
Issuing a clarification to the public in response to allegations regarding the passing of the Bill, the Speaker’s Office highlighted that due to the legislative process of the Parliament involving both, the Attorney General’s Department and the Legal Draftsman’s Department, it is unlikely that a Bill would be passed in violation of the determination of the Supreme Court.
“There is no opportunity to act in a manner that is not in accordance with a Supreme Court determination regarding a Bill or in violation of the Constitution”, the statement read in this regard.
The Speaker’s Office provided a detailed explanation of the due process followed when passing a Bill and its process of enactment in a bid to ‘set the record straight’ and to prevent the public from being ‘duped’.
Thus, The Speaker’s Office assured that while the Online Safety Bill was passed in accordance with the Supreme Court’s determination, those parliamentarians who still claim otherwise are urged to “specifically mention what recommendations were ignored”, so that the relevant authorities could respond to these allegations accordingly.
“The Speaker has no discretion on such matters”, the statement further read, emphasising that the Parliament Speaker has no discretion to enact laws and make amendments to Bills.
Attached below is the full statement:
