Centre for Policy Alternatives on 21 December, 2020

Submission to Experts Committee to Draft a New Constitution Appointed by the Ministry of Justice

December 9th 2020, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), made the following submission which outlines CPA’s general views on the nature and form of a new constitutional settlement for Sri Lanka. The submission addresses some of the major constitutional issues that have been the basis of public debate for many years. Click here […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 4 December, 2020

Statement on Forced Cremations

December 3rd 2020, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The faith the victims of forced cremation of COVID-19 or COVID-19 suspected dead had in the highest court in Sri Lanka has been shattered. Victims and communities are now left without a recourse in Sri Lanka for the continued injustice they suffer. “We placed greater hopes in the courts. […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 24 November, 2020

Gender and Criminal Justice Reform

In this series of papers, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) looks at legal and policy reform needed to address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).  CPA identifies several areas in which the statute books need to be updated in order to ensure that the safety and dignity of women are protected, but also it is […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 23 November, 2020

Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka: Moving Beyond Promises

Sri Lanka has accumulated a terrible legacy of human rights violations with successive governments making numerous promises in the area of transitional justice. Years on, however, the legitimate demands of victims for truth and justice have not gone away. The publication ‘Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka: Moving Beyond Promises’ edited by Bhavani Fonseka includes several […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 18 November, 2020

Rethinking the Attorney General’s Department in Sri Lanka: Ideas for Reform

The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is the Chief Law Officer of the State and is considered to be the Head of the legal profession. The Attorney General is accorded a unique constitutional position with regards to his duties, privileges and responsibilities, which are defined by both constitutional and statutory provisions, as well as, through […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 10 November, 2020

Technocratic Populism and the Pandemic State

This paper examines the ways in which the Sri Lankan Government has been able to employ a counterintuitive and underexamined type of populist rhetoric, that of technocratic populism. It looks at the ways in which both technocratic and populist narratives are combined, creating an ideological framework which serves to sanitize increasingly authoritarian actions. It focuses […]

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Centre for Policy Alternatives on 6 November, 2020

Q and A on Regulations Issued under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance & how this impacts the COVID-19 response in Sri Lanka

Following the detection of a spate of new COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka, regulations were made by the Minister of Health under Sections 2 and 3 of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance (the Ordinance) by Gazette Extraordinary No. 2197/25 of Thursday, October 15, 2020. This guide briefly examines the legal framework relating to […]

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