ECONOMYNEXT – Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), a non-government organization fighting corruption, has challenged the proposed amendment to the Anti-Corruption Act by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government, citing that some clauses are inconsistent with the country’s constitution.
“TISL warns that the proposed amendments introduce severe policy regressions, create major loopholes, restrict civic space and violate Fundamental Rights,” the TISL said in a statement.
“Far from strengthening anti-corruption efforts, they threaten transparency, accountability, and public trust by undermining the asset declaration regime, meaningful right to information and stripping off judicial oversight on the Authority’s discretion to refrain from prosecuting.”
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya officially presented the new amendment bill to Parliament on August 19, 2026.
It seeks to amend the 2023 Anti-Corruption Act to align it with UN standards and satisfy conditions under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility.
According to the government, the amendment bill is designed to refine the 2023 parent act by addressing operational bottlenecks and institutional inefficiencies.
The amendment aims to introduce mandatory secondary fines, requiring convicted individuals to pay up to three times the value of property acquired through corrupt acts or match the total financial loss caused to the state.
It also aims to revoke unlawful non-monetary advantages (such as fraudulent public appointments or administrative privileges) upon conviction.
However, TISL’s petition outlines several key areas of constitutional challenge against the proposed Bill.
The TISL said the proposed amendment authorizes the Commission to empower the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to decide whether to refrain from prosecuting accomplices in exchange for full disclosure, completely bypassing the requirement for Magistrate authorization.
“This proposed amendment concentrates discretionary decision-making authority in the position of the Director-General without judicial oversight and accountability, exposing the office to potential manipulation, external threats, political pressure and corruption vulnerabilities,” it said.
“Eliminating judicial oversight threatens the integrity of corruption prosecution and the credibility of the Commission’s enforcement mandate.”
It also said the Bill proposes to amend the Act and raise the threshold of State or public-corporation shareholding from 25% to 50% for officers required to submit asset declarations.
“This change would exempt senior officers of state-linked companies where the State holds less than 50% shares. These entities exercise public functions and manage substantial public assets and contracts,” the TISL said.
“A fixed 50% threshold ignores the reality of effective control through board appointments or voting rights and directly conflicts with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which uses a 25% ownership threshold.”
The proposed amendment seeks to repeal a section that will remove the requirement for public officials to declare the assets and liabilities of cohabitants who share their common household for at least six months prior to the declaration, it said.
“Repealing this provision with no justification, allows corrupt officials to conceal illicit wealth by registering assets in the names of cohabiting household members who are not spouses or dependents. This hampers effective verification and cross-checking.”
TISL also warned that the Bill proposes to amend the Act to grant the CIABOC broad, undefined and arbitrary discretion to redact “any other information” it considers violating an individual’s privacy.
“This open-ended power risks excessive redaction of key financial details that are vital for identifying conflicts of interest or unexplained wealth.”
It inserts a new subsection that criminalises citizens from using redacted asset declarations for any purpose other than making formal submissions under Section 86, the TISL said.
“It criminalizes any other use of public information, making it an offence punishable by summary trial with a fine up to Rs. 100,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.”
“Policing what the public can do with public information creates a severe chilling effect on civic space, journalism, and free media. The freedom of expression guaranteed under Article of the Constitution includes the right to receive and impart information.”
The Bill also proposes to repeal and replace a section which would make bailing the exception and remand the norm. The petition highlights that this provision is vague, constitutionally overbroad, lacks clarity, and fails to provide adequate guidelines, violating the principles of proportionality and fundamental rights.
“TISL’s petition urges the Supreme Court to determine that the relevant clauses of the Bill are inconsistent with key provisions of the Constitution and requests the Court to determine that these provisions cannot become law unless they are passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and approved by the People at a Referendum.” (Colombo/September 01/2026)
Continue Reading
