Cabinet approval to be sought for amendments:

New laws soon to protect crime victims and witnesses

by Ranil WIAJAYAPALA

The Justice Ministry is now working on a draft to introduce the Victims and Witness Protection law soon by incorporating the amendments to the Assistance and Protection to Victims of Crime and Witnesses Bill which was first tabled in Parliament in June 2008, Justice Ministry Secretary Kamalini de Silva told the Sunday Observer.

“We will present this Bill in Parliament after obtaining Cabinet approval incorporating all those amendments, she said.

At present we are focusing only on punishing the person who committed the crime but we have not paid enough attention to the victim or the witness.

Hence there is a possibility of them being harassed.

That is why we need to introduce these laws soon”, she said.

The Assistance and Protection to Victims of Crime and Witnesses Bill was first tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Justice and Law Reforms as an urgent Bill on June 18, 2008 but had not been passed and lapsed owing to the dissolution of Parliament.

The earlier Bill consists of VIII parts and 36 Sections and contains an extensive definition of the terms, victims of crime and witnesses.

The proposed Bill covers victims of human rights violations within the definition of the term, victims of crime thus making the law an important pillar in human rights protection in the country.

Some human rights groups criticised the Bill for not having adequate provision to protect witnesses in crime cases. “Therefore, we hope to introduce new legislation covering all relevant amendments proposed to the previous Bill presented in Parliament”, she said.

The earlier Bill proposed to create a special protection division in the Police Department and a fund to provide compensation to victims.

The law provides for a category of offences that may be committed against the victims and witnesses such as intimidation and threats which are made punishable with imprisonment up to seven years. Victim and Witness Protection laws had been long awaited and had been the subject of discussion, both nationally and internationally.