Joint Opposition raises alarm over proposed Anti-Corruption Amendment Bill

• Say strict bail provisions threaten fundamental rights and will worsen deadly prison overcrowding

The Joint Opposition yesterday issued the following statement to express profound concern and to raise public alarm over the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill Gazetted by the Government, particularly Clause 17 amending section 149 of the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023.

The proposed amendment makes all offences under the Act cognisable and non-bailable in accordance with the Bail Act. More critically, where a person is suspected or accused of soliciting, accepting or offering a bribe of not less than Rs. 100,000, or of corruption that has caused a loss to the Government of not less than Rs. 500,000, or of gaining a benefit, favour or advantage of not less than Rs. 500,000 (confirmed by a certificate issued by the Director-General), bail shall not be granted except in exceptional circumstances by a High Court.

These provisions severely restrict judicial discretion, shift the burden onto the accused, and create a presumption against liberty at the earliest stage of investigation. They undermine the presumption of innocence, the right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 13 of the Constitution, and the fundamental principle that bail should be the rule and jail the exception, except in the most serious cases carefully defined by law.

If enacted, the Bill poses grave dangers to human liberties and fundamental rights. If passed in its present form, the amendment will:

nExpand the category of non-bailable offences and confine residual discretion to the High Court alone, reducing the role of Magistrates’ Courts in protecting liberty.

nLead to prolonged pre-trial detention for a wider range of suspects, many of whom may ultimately be acquitted or whose cases may take years to conclude.

nIncrease the already dangerously high proportion of remand prisoners in the system.

nExpose more individuals to the inhumane conditions currently prevailing in Sri Lanka’s prisons, thereby violating the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

These risks are not theoretical. They must be assessed against the documented reality of the prison system.

According to information obtained by BBC Sinhala under the Right to Information Act and published on 2 August 2026, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Prisons provided the following data (as of 4 July 2026, the day before the Negombo violence):

n Welikada Prison: approved capacity 839 — held 3,400 inmates

nColombo Remand Prison: approved capacity 328 — held 2,782 inmates

nMagazine Prison: approved capacity 499 — held 3,046 inmates

nNegombo (Migamuwa) Prison: approved capacity 496 — held 2,403 inmates (nearly five times capacity)

The same RTI response confirmed that, as of 31 December 2025, approximately 90 per cent of those in custody had been held for less than one year as suspects, and that as of 31 May 2026 some 15,607 suspects remained in prison pending Government Analyst reports. On 1 August 2026, Mahara Prison held more than 4,100 inmates when further unrest occurred.

These official figures, obtained through RTI and reported by BBC Sinhala, demonstrate that major prisons are operating at three to five times their approved capacity. The deadly riot at Negombo Prison on 5–6 July 2026 (28 deaths, including prison officers) and the subsequent unrest at Mahara are the direct, foreseeable consequences of this chronic overcrowding. Introducing still stricter non-bailable provisions in this environment will further inflate the remand population, intensify pressure on collapsing facilities, and place both inmates and prison staff at heightened risk of violence, disease and death.

The Joint Opposition demands that the Government immediately withdraw or substantially amend Clause 17. Any anti-corruption measure must be proportionate, rights-compliant, and realistic about the capacity of the prison system. Strengthening accountability cannot be achieved by systematically eroding the right to liberty.

The Joint Opposition notes that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union (through the JURE project), the Asian Development Bank, the Government of Japan and other bilateral and multilateral partners have provided significant technical and financial assistance to strengthen the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and related justice-sector institutions.

We respectfully urge these partners to:

n Examine the human-rights implications of the proposed bail regime in light of the official prison data now available through RTI;

n Engage the Government of Sri Lanka on the need for calibrated legislation that does not compound pre-trial detention and overcrowding;

n Ensure that ongoing and future support for anti-corruption efforts remains consistent with international human-rights standards, the presumption of innocence, and the obligation to maintain safe and humane conditions of detention.

Effective action against corruption is essential. It must not, however, be pursued through measures that endanger lives, undermine fundamental rights, and ignore the proven failures of an already overcrowded and under-resourced prison system.

The Joint Opposition will continue to expose these dangers in Parliament, before the public, and in every available forum. We stand ready to support genuine, balanced reforms that combat corruption while protecting the liberties of the people.