Amendment contemplated to Criminal Procedure Code :

Duty Attorney at Police stations

Sri Lanka while reiterating that it has a zero tolerance policy on torture, yesterday said that the country is in the process of studying a major amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code to provide a Duty Attorney scheme at every police division. The government is studying the possibility of introducing this scheme on the lines of Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) in the UK providing legal services as a mandatory right at Police stations to every suspect within a short time of arrest. Addressing the 19th session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, former Attorney General Mohan Peiris PC said that Sri Lanka has a constitutional guarantee against torture.

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Defence Secy thanks China

Military and trade assistance by China during the critical phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka, made the victory over terrorism possible, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. Remnants of the LTTE and LTTE linked groups active around the world have launched a campaign to destabilise peace and build pressure on Sri Lanka, he said at a ceremony in Beijing on Monday to mark 55 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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