- Women’s orgs. requested to attend today’s discussion on controversial amendment
The Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms has convened a special discussion with all the relevant parties including women’s organisations to discuss the amendment of Chapter 19 of the Penal Code to reduce the age of consent for a girl to have sexual relations at their will from 16 to 14 years, which was recently withdrawn amid criticism from several parties.
A Bill gazetted on 9 February of this year by the Government to amend Chapter 19 of the Penal Code regarding the girls’ age of consent for sex, sparked controversy in the past few days. The Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, President’s Counsel (PC) Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had then said that the relevant Bill would be withdrawn.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Presidential Media Centre in Colombo yesterday (25), Dr. Rajapakshe said that while there were media reports to the effect that the relevant legal amendment had not been discussed with the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus and the relevant Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee, that such reports were not true. “There is a system for a Bill to be referred to the relevant committees. When a Bill has been challenged before the Supreme Court (SC), we cannot take any action until the SC’s determination is issued. When it is received only we can refer it to the committees. We did not reach that level with regard to this Bill.”
Considering the views expressed by various parties regarding the proposed legal amendment, he said that the Ministry decided to study it further and pass it in a more democratic way following discussions with the relevant stakeholders. “This is not something that was done for the benefit of one party. We were going to introduce this legal amendment for the wellbeing of the entire society, after carrying out discussions for more than four years. However, considering the views of various parties, we have informed all the relevant parties including women’s organisations to attend a discussion today (26). Noting that it is mandatory for a person who is found guilty of having sex with a female under the age of 16 years, irrespective of whether it was with the victim’s consent or not, to be sentenced for a period of 10 years, Dr. Rajapakshe said that several practical issues were arising regarding the matter. “A committee was appointed to look into this issue several years ago. It consisted of 19 lawyers including eight PCs. It was after discussions with various parties such as judges that they proposed these solutions.”
As per the existing provisions of the Penal Code, even if a girl under 16 years of age has sexual relations with their consent, it is considered statutory rape. However, the proposed amendment to the Penal Code by the Justice Ministry sought to lower the age of sexual consent to 14 years. The proposed amendment saw opposition from several parties including the Parliamentary opposition and the Women MPs ‘ Caucus. Subsequently, Dr. Rajapakshe informed Attorney General, Sanjay Rajaratnam PC that the relevant Bill would not be proceeded with.
While claiming that her Ministry was not at all aware of the relevant amendment, the State Minister of Women and Child Affairs Geetha Kumarasinghe on 24 March said that it was problematic as to in whose interest such an amendment was going to be brought.
Source: themorning