{"id":210154,"date":"2020-05-03T18:32:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T13:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=210154"},"modified":"2020-05-03T18:32:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T13:02:13","slug":"curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/","title":{"rendered":"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene"},"content":{"rendered":"

President\u2019s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran<\/span><\/a> has today urged the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to\u00a0advise the government on the need to rectify and regularise curfew imposed without any further delay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

M.A. Sumanthiran PC<\/p><\/div>\n

Sending a letter to the HRCSL Sumanthiran said: “Thus, the present \u201ccurfew\u201d has not been legally imposed, however desirable and necessary it may be. In fact, it is all the more important that the restrictions on the freedom of movement be properly and legally prescribed and enforced given the grave need for such in the present context and the need for certainty in this regard.”<\/p>\n

We publish below the letter is full:<\/p>\n

M. A. Sumanthiran, B.Sc., LLM President\u2019s Counsel<\/p>\n

3rd May 2020<\/p>\n

The Chairperson and other members of\u00a0The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,<\/p>\n

Colombo 4.<\/p>\n

To: Madam Chairperson and other members,<\/p>\n

Imposition of \u201ccurfew\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I write this in the public interest.<\/p>\n

However, at the outset I must declare my \u201cinterest\u201d in a related matter. I appear as Counsel in the Nugegoda Magistrate\u2019s Court in Case No: B\/1454\/20 for Mr Ranjan Ramanayake, former Member of Parliament. In the course of my submissions made to court on 20th April 2020, I took up the position that no curfew has been declared in the country in terms of any applicable law<\/span><\/a>. Having recorded my submission in this regard and while granting bail to my client, the learned Magistrate very specifically held that he was not making a determination as to the legality of the curfew at this point in time. It is pertinent to note that my client has not been accused of violating any curfew.<\/p>\n

An island-wide \u201ccurfew\u201d was declared from 6pm on 20th March 2020 and announced to the country by the President\u2019s Media Division (PMD), which has virtually been in force up to now with variations in certain districts and \u201ccurfew\u201d being \u201clifted\u201d and \u201cre-imposed\u201d at different times in different places.<\/p>\n

I am of the opinion that restricting movement is desirable and necessary at this time in our country in order to meet the challenge presented by COVID-19<\/span><\/a>. There is no gainsaying that such restrictions including curfew must be imposed legally under applicable provisions of law. Insofar as I have been able to ascertain, this has not been done under any extant legal provision. Such action therefore poses a grave threat to the Rule of Law and indeed to the well-being of the people of this country.<\/p>\n

In these circumstances I wish to draw your attention to Section 10 (c) and (d) of the Act No. 21 of 1996, by which the Human Rights Commission is empowered to advise and make recommendations to the government and urge you to kindly address this particular situation which I detail below:<\/p>\n

Curfews in this country have hitherto been imposed by the use of Emergency Regulations after bringing Part II of the Public Security Ordinance into operation by means of a proclamation. This has not been done in the present instance.<\/p>\n

Further, there is provision under Section 16 of the Public Security Ordinance (which comes under Part III) to impose restrictions on movements of people by making publication in the Gazette to that effect. This also has not been done.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has noted that any restriction on the freedom of movement guaranteed by Article 14(1)(h) of the Constitution must be prescribed by law:\u00a0\u201c…[t]he right of citizens to travel on public highways and to have access to public places may only be curtailed by restrictions imposed in terms of Articles 15(6) and 15(7).\u201d \u2013 vide Vadivelu v. OIC Sithambarapuram and others [2002] 3SLR 146.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Mark Fernando J. held:\u00a0\u201cThere is force in the respondent\u2019s contention that the restrictions complained of were imposed in the interests of national security, and were reasonably necessary for that purpose. However, Article 15(7) required that such restrictions be imposed by a law, or by regulations made under the law relating to public security. Accordingly, the travel pass system constitutes a restriction not authorized by Article 15(7).<\/p>\n

I hold that the petitioner\u2019s fundamental right under Article 14(1)(h) had been infringed by executive action by the application to him of the travel pass system\u201d<\/p>\n

Article 15(7) of the Constitution very specifically provides:<\/p>\n

For the purposes of this paragraph \u201claw\u201d includes regulations made under the law for the time being relating to public security.<\/p>\n

There is also the question as to whether the law relating to public security can be utilized to impose curfew for exigencies of public health hazards. But leaving that question aside, there is at present no regulation made even under the Public Security Ordinance.<\/p>\n

Thus, the present \u201ccurfew\u201d has not been legally imposed, however desirable and necessary it may be. In fact, it is all the more important that the restrictions on the freedom of movement be properly and legally prescribed and enforced given the grave need for such in the present context and the need for certainty in this regard.<\/p>\n

Although, in view of the above, it is not necessary to discuss the regulations made under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance, I am annexing copies of same to show that in any case<\/span><\/a>, none provide for the imposing of curfew.<\/p>\n

I trust the Commission will give due consideration to the matters raised by me in view of the very serious public importance of this issue and advise the government on the need to rectify and regularise this matter without any further delay.<\/p>\n

In view of the public importance of this matter, I am releasing this letter to the media.<\/p>\n

Yours truly,<\/p>\n

M.A. Sumanthiran<\/p>\n

To read the attachments click here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":210162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nCurfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-03T13:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"894\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"545\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/\",\"name\":\"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-03T13:02:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg\",\"width\":894,\"height\":545,\"caption\":\"M.A. Sumanthiran PC\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2020-05-03T13:02:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":894,"height":545,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/","name":"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-03T13:02:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg","width":894,"height":545,"caption":"M.A. Sumanthiran PC"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/curfew-illegal-sumanthiran-urges-human-rights-commission-to-intervene\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Curfew Illegal: Sumanthiran Urges Human Rights Commission To Intervene"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/M.A.-Sumanthiran.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210154"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210163,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210154\/revisions\/210163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}