Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2015-03-12

Draft Bill on Right to Information

- Government indents to draft and submit a Bill on Right to Information which enshrines provisions to ensure the right of the public to official information of the Government and to appoint a Commission for the purpose, with the intention to give effect to better implementation of democracy and good governance in the country and thereby to create an ethical society free of corruption in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, action has been taken to prepare a preliminary draft for the Bill by a Committee appointed for the purpose in association with the Ministries of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs; Public Administration, Provincial Councils, Local Government and Democratic Governance; and Justice and Labour and also taking into consideration of the views of journalists, veterans in the legal field, representatives of the Non Governmental Organizations and Public Officers. The proposal made by Hon.Gayantha Karunathilaka, Minister of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs, to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft legislation based on the above preliminary draft, was approved by the Cabinet.