Govt. to include right to information as fundamental right in Constitution

Friday, 13 March 2015 01:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government plans to incorporate the right to information into the Constitution to give it a legal recognition as a fundamental right, Secretary to the Media Ministry Karunaratne Paranavithana said. According to the official, the Government is pla

nning to add a clause to Article 14 of the Constitution which ensures freedom of speech, assembly and movement as a fundamental right. “Article 14 of the Constitution will be amended to recognise the right to information as a fundamental right,” he said pointing out that a number of Supreme Court judgements have upheld that the right to information is a fundamental right. Speaking at a press conference at the Media Ministry, Paranavithana has said the proposed amendment to the Constitution will be made after evaluating the Supreme Court judgements in this regard and the constitutional provisions related to the Right to Information in other countries. According to the Secretary, the Government has adopted a two pronged approach to ensure people’s right to information. “We are planning to amend the Constitution to recognise the right to information as a fundamental right. On the other hand, we are in the process of drafting the Right to Information Bill,” he said. A 15-member working committee is in the process of drafting the Right to Information Bill which is to be presented to Parliament for approval within 100 days. The committee will comprise secretaries of Media and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, Public Administration Ministry and Justice Ministry, President’s Counsel Jayampathy Wickramaratne and the representatives of the civil society and media societies in the country. The committee is finalising the formulation of the draft bill to be forwarded to the Legal Draftsman, according to the official. The Media Ministry had published advertisements seeking public views on the proposed Right to Information Bill and they are also being taken into consideration for the formulation of the draft Bill, the Secretary said adding that the proposed Bill will be made public in the form of a Gazette notification to obtain further public opinion.