PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT [PTA]
1979
PARLIAMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC
OF SRI LANKA
PREVENTION OF TERRORISM (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT
No 48 of 1979
[Certified on 20 July 1979]
AN ACT TO MAKE TEMPORARY PROVISION FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACTS OF TERRORISM IN SRI LANKA, THE PREVENTION OF UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES OF
ANY INDIVIDUAL, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, ASSOCIATION,
ORGANISATION
OR BODY OF PERSONS WITHIN SRI LANKA OR OUTSIDE SRI LANKA AND FOR
MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH OR INCIDENTAL THERETO.
WHEREAS the Parliament of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka continues to
affirm that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is
founded upon respect for the Rule of
Law and that grievances should be redressed by
constitutional methods:
AND WHEREAS public order in Sri
Lanka continues to be endangered by
elements or groups of persons or associations that
advocate the use of force or the commission of crime as a
means
of, or as an aid in, accomplishing governmental change within Sri
Lanka, and who have resorted to acts of murder
and threats of
murder of members of Parliament and of local authorities, police
officers, and witnesses to such acts and other law
abiding and
innocent citizens, as well as the commission of other
acts of
terrorism such as armed robbery, damage to State
property and
other acts involving actual or threatened coercion, intimidation
and violence:
AND WHEREAS other democratic counties have
enacted special
legislation to deal with acts of terrorism:
BE it enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic
Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka as follows:-
1. This Act may be cited
as the Prevention of Terrorism
(Temporary Provisions) Act, No 48 of 1979, and shall come
into
operation in respect of all or any of its provisions on such date
or dates as the Minister may appoint by Order
published in the
Gazette.
PART I
OFFENCES
2. (1) Any person who -
(a) causes the death of any specified person, or
kidnaps or
abducts a specified person, or commits any other attack upon any
such person, which act would, under the provisions of the
Penal
Code, be punishable with death or a term of imprisonment of
not
less than seven years; or
(b) causes the death of any person who is a
witness to any
offence under this Act, or kidnaps or
abducts or commits any
other attack upon any such person, which act would,
under the
provisions of the Penal Code, be punishable with death or a term
of imprisonment of not less than seven years; or
(c) commits criminal intimidation of any special
person or a
witness referred to in paragraph (b); or
(d) commits the offence of
robbery of the property of the
Government, any department, statutory board, public corporation,
bank, co-operative union or co-operative society; or
(e) commits the offence of
mischief to the property of the
Government, any department, statutory board, public corporation,
bank, co-operative union or co-operative society or to any other
public property; or
(f) without lawful authority imports, manufactures or
collects
any firearms, offensive weapons, ammunition or explosives or any
article or thing used, or intended to be used, in the manufacture
of explosives; or
(g) possesses without lawful authority, within
any security
area, any firearms or any offensive
weapon, ammunition or
explosives or any article or thing used, or intended to be used,
in the manufacture of explosives; or
(h) by words either spoken or intended to be read or by signs or
by visible representations or otherwise
causes or intends to
cause commission of acts of violence or religious,
racial or
communal disharmony or feelings of ill-will or hostility between
different communities or racial or religious groups; or
(i) without lawful authority erases,
mutilates, defaces or
otherwise interferes with any words, inscriptions, or
lettering
appearing on any board or other fixture on, upon or adjacent to,
any highway, street, road or any other public place; or
(j) harbours, conceals or in any other manner prevents,
hinders
or interferes with the apprehension of, a proclaimed person
or
any other person, knowing or having reason to believe that
such
person has committed an offence under this Act,
shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.
(2) Any person guilty of an offence specified in -
(i) paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) shall on
conviction
be liable to imprisonment for life, and
(ii) paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
(h), (i) or (j) of
subsection (1) shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment
of
either description for a period not less than five years but not
exceeding twenty years.
(3) In this section -
(i) "proclaimed person" means any person
proclaimed by the
Inspector-General of Police by Proclamation
published in the
Gazette to be a person wanted in connection with the
commission
of any offence under this Act; and
(ii) "security area" means any area declared by the Minister
by
Order published in the Gazette to be a security area if
he is
satisfied that by reason of any unlawful
activity there is in
such area a reasonable apprehension of organised violence.
3. Any person who -
(a) does any act preparatory to the commission of an offence; or
(b) abets, conspires, attempts,
exhorts or incites th
commission of an offence; or
(c) causes the death of any person, or commits any
attack upon
any person whomsoever in the course of committing any
offence
under this Act, which act would, under the
provisions of the
Penal Code, be punishable with death
or with a term of
imprisonment of not less than seven years,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be
liable
to imprisonment of either description for a period of not
less
than five years but not exceeding twenty years where the offence
is one specified in paragraph (a) or (b), or to imprisonment for
life where the offence is one specified in paragraph (c).
4. Where any person is convicted by any court of any
offence
under section 2 or section 3, then, in addition to
any other
penalty that the court shall impose for such offence -
(a) all property movable and immovable, of that person shall, by
virtue of such conviction, be deemed
to be forfeited to the
Republic; and
(b) any alienation or other disposal of such property
effected
by such person after the date of coming into operation
of this
Part shall be deemed to have been, and to be, null and void.
5. Any person who -
(a) knowing or having reasonable cause to
believe that any
person -
(i) has committed an offence under this Act, or
(ii) is making preparation or is attempting to commit an offence
under this Act,
fails to report the same to a police officer; or
(b) having in his possession any information relating
to the
movements or whereabouts of any person who has
committed or is
making preparations or is attempting to commit an offence
under
this Act fails to report the same to a police officer,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction be liable
to imprisonment of either description for period not
exceeding
seven years.
PART II
INVESTIGATION OF OFFENCES
6.(1) Any police officer not below the rank of Superintendent
or any other police officer not below the rank of
Sub-Inspector
authorised in writing by him in that
behalf may, without a
warrant and with or without assistance
and notwithstanding
anything in any other law to the contrary -
(a) arrest any person;
(b) enter and search any premises;
(c) stop and search any individual or any vehicle, vessel, train
or aircraft; and
(d) seize any document or thing,
connected with or concerned in or reasonably suspected of
being
connected with or concerned in any unlawful activity.
(2) Any person who obstructs or hinders any
police officer
lawfully exercising any power conferred on
him by or under
subsection (1), shall be guilty of an offence
and shall on
conviction be liable to imprisonment of either description
or a
period not exceeding seven years.
7.(1) Any person arrested under subsection (1) of section 6 may
be kept in custody for a period not exceeding seventy-two
hours
and shall, unless a detention order under section 9 has been mad
in respect of such person, be produced before a Magistrate before
the expiry of such period and the
Magistrate shall, on an
application made in writing in that behalf by a police
officer
not below the rank of Superintendent, make order that such person
be remanded until the conclusion of the trial of such person:
Provided that, where the Attorney-General
consents to the
release of such person before custody before the conclusion
of
the trial, the Magistrate shall release such person from custody.
(2) Where any person connected
with or concerned in or
reasonably suspected to be connected with or concerned
in the
commission of any offence under this Act appears or is
produced
before any court other than in the
manner referred to in
subsection (1), such court shall order the remand of such person
until the conclusion of the trial:
Provided that, if an application is made under the hand of
a
police officer not below the rank of Superintendent to keep such
person in police custody for a period not exceeding
seventy-two
hours, the Magistrate shall authorise such custody and thereupon
the order of remand made by the Magistrate shall remain suspended
for the period during which such person is in police custody.
(3) A police officer conducting an investigation under
this
Act in respect of any person arrested under
subsection (1) of
section 6 or remanded under subsection (1) or subsection (2)
of
this section -
(a) shall have the right of access to such person and the
right
to take such person during reasonable hours to any place for the
purpose of interrogation and from place to place for the purposes
of investigation; and
(b) may obtain a specimen of the handwriting of such person
and
do all such acts as may
reasonably be necessary for
fingerprinting or otherwise identifying such person.
8. Any police officer may at any stage of an investigation or
trial produce before any Magistrate any person conversant
with
any fact relating to the commission of any
offence under this
Act, and the Magistrate shall thereupon record the statement
of
such person upon oath.
PART III
DETENTION AND RESTRICTION ORDERS
9.(1) Where the Minister has reason to believe or suspect that
any person is connected with or
concerned in any unlawful
activity, the Minister may order that such person be detained for
a period not exceeding three months in the first
instance, in
such place and subject to such conditions as may be determined by
the Minister, and any such order may be extended
from time to
time for a period not exceeding three months at a time:
Provided, however, that the aggregate period of such detention
shall not exceed a period of eighteen months.
(2) (a) At any time after an order has been made in respect of
any person under subsection (1), the Minister may direct that the
operation o f such order be suspended and may make an order under
subsection (1) of section 11.
(b) The Minister may revoke
any such direction if he is
satisfied that the person in respect of whom the direction
was
made has failed to observe any condition
imposed or that the
operation of the order can no longer remain suspended
without
detriment to public safety.
10. An order made under section 9 shall be final and shall not
be called in question in any court or tribunal by way of writ or
otherwise.
11.(1) Where the Minister has reason to believe or suspect that
any person is connected with or concerned in the
commission of
any unlawful activity referred to in subsection (1) of section 9,
he may make an order in writing imposing on such
person such
prohibitions or restrictions as may be specified in such order in
respect of -
(a) his movement outside such place
of residence as may be
specified; or
(b) the places of residence and of employment of such person; or
(c) his travel within or outside Sri Lanka; or
(d) his activities whether in relation to
any organisation,
association or body of persons of which such person is a member,
or otherwise; or
(e) such person addressing public meetings or from holding office
in, or taking part in the activities of or acting as adviser to,
any organisation, association or body of persons, or from taking
part in any political activities,
and he may require such person to notify his movements to
such
authority, in such manner and at such times as may be
specified
in the order.
(2) Where the Minister makes a restriction order in respect of
any person while an order of detention in respect of such person
is in force, such restriction order shall,
unless otherwise
specified, take effect upon the expiry of the detention order.
(3) Every order made under subsection (1) shall be in force for
such period, not exceeding three months,
as may be specified
therein:
Provided, that the Minister may, by order in writing,
extend
such period from time to time for periods not
exceeding three
months at a time so however that the aggregate of such
periods
does not exceed eighteen months.
(4) Where an order is made under subsection (1), the Minister
may by notice in writing served on the person to whom such order
relates, vary, cancel or add to any prohibitions or restrictions
imposed by such order on such person and the
prohibitions or
restrictions so varied or added to
shall, unless earlier
cancelled, continue in force for the unexpired portion
of th
period specified in such order or the period as
extended under
subsection (3).
(5) An order made by the Minister under subsection (1) shall be
final and shall not be called in question
in any court or
tribunal by way of writ or otherwise.
12. Any person who contravenes or
acts in breach of any
prohibition or restriction imposed on him by an
order under
section 11 shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction
be liable to a term of imprisonment of either description for
a
period of five years.
PART IV
ADVISORY BOARD
13.(1) There shall, for the purposes
of this Act, b
established an Advisory Board consisting of not less than
three
persons appointed by the President.
(2) Any person in respect of
whom any detention order or
restriction order has been made shall be informed of the unlawful
activity in connection with which such order has been made
and
such person or any other person
on his behalf may make
representations to the Advisory Board.
(3) Every meeting of the Advisory Board held to consider such
representations shall be presided over by a Chairman
nominated
from among the members by the Minister and it shall be the
duty
of the Chairman to advise the
Minister in respect of such
representations.
(4) The Minister may make rules in relation to the hearing and disposal of any representations that may be made by any person in
respect of any such order.
PART V
PROHIBITION OF PUBLICATIONS
14.(1) Notwithstanding any Order made under section
1, the
provisions of subsection (2) shall come into operation only upon
an Order made in that behalf by the Minister from time to
time
and published in the Gazette for such period as may be specified
in the Order.
(2)(a) No person shall, without the approval in writing of
a
competent authority, print or publish in any newspaper any matter
relating to -
(i) the commission of any act which constitute an offence
under
this Act or the investigation of any such offence; or
(ii) incitement to violence, or which
is likely to caus
religious, racial or communal disharmony or feeling of
ill-will
or hostility between different communities or racial or religious
groups.
(b) No person shall, without the approval
in writing of a
competent authority, distribute or
be concerned in th
distribution of any newspaper printed or published in Sri
Lanka
or outside Sri Lanka in respect of any matter the
printing and
publication of which is prohibited under paragraph (a).
(3) Any person who commits any act in contravention of any of
the provisions of subsection (2) shall be guilty of an
offence
and shall on conviction be liable to
imprisonment of either
description for a period not exceeding five years.
(4)(a) Where any person is convicted of an offence under this
section, the court may, in addition to the punishment
it may
impose for that offence under subsection
(3), order that no
person shall print, publish or distribute or in
any way be
concerned in the printing, publication or
distribution of any
such newspaper for such period as is specified in such order and
that the printing press in which
such newspaper was printed
shall, for such period as shall be specified in such order,
not
be used for any purpose whatsoever or for any such purpose as is
specified in the order.
(b) Where any proceedings have been instituted against any person
for the commission of any offence under this section, it shall be
competent for the court to make an interim
order that the printing press in which it is alleged that
such newspaper or publication was printed shall not be used
for any purpose whatsoever or for any such purpose as is specified in the order,
until the conclusion of the trial.
15. (1) Every person who commits an offence under
this Act
shall be triable without a preliminary inquiry, on an indictment
before a Judge of the High Court sitting alone without a jury or
before a High Court at Bar by three Judges without a jury, as may
be decided by the Chief Justice. The provisions of sections
450
and 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of
1979,
shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the trial of
offences under
this Act by the High Court at Bar and to appeals from judgements,
sentences and orders pronounced at any such trial held
by the
High Court at Bar.
[The above sub-section was introduced by Amending Act 22 of 1988]
(2) Upon the indictment being received
in the High Court
against any person in respect of any offence under this Act
or
any offence to which the provisions of section 23
shall apply,
the court shall, in every case, order the remand of such
person
until the conclusion of the trial.
15A. (1) Where any person is on remand under the provisions of
sub-section (2) of section 15, or section 19(a), notwithstanding
any other provision of this Act or any other law, the
Secretary
to the Ministry of the Minister in charge of the
subject of
Defence may, if he is of the opinion that
it is necessary or
expedient so to do, in the interests of national
security or
public order, make Order, subject to such directions
as may be
given by the High Court to ensure a fair trial of such
person,
that such person be kept in the custody of any authority, in such
place and subject to such conditions as may be determined by him
having regard to such interests.
(2) Any Order made by the Minister under sub-section (1) shall
be communicated to the High Court and to
the Commissioner of
Prisons and it shall be the duty of such Commissioner, to deliver
the custody of such person to the authority specified
in such
order and the provisions of the Prisons Ordinance shall cease to
apply in relation to the custody of such person.
[Note: Section 15A was inserted by Amending Act 10 of 1982 w.e.f.
24 July 1979]
PART VI
TRIAL
16.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, where
any person is charged with any
offence under this Act, any
statement made by such person at any time, whether -
(a) it amounts to a confession or not;
(b) made orally or reduced to writing;
(c) such person was or was not in custody or presence of a police
officer;
(d) made in the course of an investigation or not;
(e) it was or was not wholly or partly in answer to any question, against such person if such statement is not
irrelevant under section 24 of the Evidence Ordinance:
Provided, however, that no such statement shall be
proved as
against such person if such statement was made
to a police
officer below the rank of an Assistant Superintendent.
(2) The burden of proving that any statement
referred to in
subsection (1) is irrelevant under section 24 of the
Evidence
Ordinance shall be on the person asserting it to be irrelevant.
(3) Any statement admissible under subsection (1) may be proved
as against any other person charged
jointly with the person
making the statement, if, and only
if, such statement is
corroborated in material particulars by evidence other than
the
statements referred to in subsection (1).
17. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, the provisions of sections 25, 26
and 30 of the Evidence
Ordinance shall have no application in any proceedings under this
Act.
18.(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any
other
law -
(a) a statement recorded by a
Magistrate, or made at an
identification parade by a person who is dead or who cannot
b
found, shall be admissible in evidence notwithstanding that such
person is not present or cannot or has not been
cross-examined;
and
(b) any document found in the custody, control or possession of a
person accused of any offence under this Act or of an
agent or
representative of such person may be
produced in court as
evidence against such person without the maker of such
document
being called as a witness and the contents of such document shall
be evidence of the facts stated therein.
(2) If in the course of a trial for an offence under this Act,
any witness shall, on any material point,
contradict either
expressly or by necessary implication a statement made by him and
recorded by a Magistrate or a statement made by
him at any
identification parade, it shall be lawful
for the presiding
Judge-
(a) to act upon such statement; and
(b) to have such witness at the
conclusion of such trial
arraigned and tried on an indictment which shall be prepared and
signed by the Registrar of such court, for intentionally
giving
false evidence in a stage of a judicial proceeding.
(3) At any trial referred to in subsection (2)(b), it shall b
sufficient to prove that the witness made
the contradictory
statement and it shall not be necessary to prove
which of the
statements is false.
19. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law -
(a) every person convicted by any court of any offence under this
Act shall, notwithstanding that he has lodged a
petition of
appeal against his conviction or the sentence imposed on him, b
kept on remand until the determination of the appeal;
(b) any order made under the provisions of subsection
(4) of
section 14 shall, notwithstanding any appeal made
against such
order, continue in force until the determination of such appeal:
Provided, however, that the Court of Appeal may in exceptional
circumstances release on bail any such
person referred to in
paragraph (a) subject to such conditions as the Court of
Appeal
may deem fit, or vary or suspend
any order referred to in
paragraph (b).
20. Notwithstanding anything in the Code of Criminal Procedure
Act, No 15 of 1979 -
(a) the provisions of section 303 of that Act shall not apply in
the case of any person who is convicted;
(b) the provisions of section 306 of that Act shall not apply in
the case of any person who pleads or is found guilty,
by or before any court of any offence under this Act.
21. Every court shall give priority to the trial of any person
charged with, or indicted for, any offence under this Act and to
the hearing of any appeal from the conviction of any such offence
and sentence imposed on such conviction.
PART VII
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
22. Any person who has committed any offence under section 296
or section 297 or section 300 of the Penal Code prior to the date
of coming into operation of Part VI of this Act or has abetted or
has conspired to abet the commission of any such offence prior to
such date, in relation to any person who is a specified person or
a person who was a witness to any offence which if such
offence
had been committed after the date of coming into
operation of
Part I of this Act would have constituted an offence under
this
Act shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the
contrary, be triable without a preliminary
inquiry, on an
indictment before a Judge of the High Court sitting alone without
a jury.
23. The provision of sections 8, 16, 17 and 18 of
this Act
shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to and in relation to any act, or
the trial for the commission of an offence in respect of any act,
committed before the date of coming into operation of Parts I, II
and VI of this Act, which act would, if committed
after such
date, have constituted an offence under this Act:
Provided, however, that no statement referred to in any
such
section shall be admissible unless such statement was made after
the coming into operation of the aforesaid Parts of this Act.
24. Any person who commits an act in or in
relation to any
vessel or aircraft registered in Sri Lanka shall, if
such act
constitutes an offence under this Act, be guilty of an
offence
under this Act.
PART VIII
MISCELLANEOUS
25. Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body of
persons, then if that body of persons is -
(a) a body corporate, every director and officer
of that body
corporate; or
(b) a firm, every partner of that firm; or
(c) a body unincorporate other than a firm, every officer of that
body responsible for its management and control,
shall be deemed to be guilty of such offence:
Provided that no such person shall be deemed to be guilty
of
such offence if he proves that such offence was committed without
his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to
prevent
the commission of such offence.
26. No suit, prosecution or other
proceeding, civil or
criminal, shall lie against any officer or person for any act or thing in good faith done or purported to be done in pursuance or
supposed pursuance of any order made or
direction given under
this Act.
27.(1) The Minister may make regulations under this Act for th
purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the principles
and
provisions of this Act.
(2) Every regulation made by the Minister shall be published in
the Gazette and shall come into operation on the
date of such
publication or on such later date as may be specified
in the
regulation.
(3) Every regulation made by the Minister
shall as soon as
convenient after its publication in the Gazette be brought before
Parliament for its approval. Any regulation which
is not so
approved shall be deemed to be rescinded
as from the date of
disapproval but without prejudice to anything
previously don
thereunder. Notification of the date on which a
regulation is
deemed to be rescinded shall be published in the Gazette.
28. The provisions of this
Act shall have effect
notwithstanding anything contained in any other written law
and
accordingly in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between
the provisions of this Act and such other
written law, the
provisions of this Act shall prevail.
[Section 29 was repealed by Amending Act 10 of 1982, w.e.f.
24
July 1979]
30. The Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
and
Other Similar Organisations Law, No 16
of 1978, is hereby
repealed.
PART IX
INTERPRETATION
31.(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -
"competent authority" means any person
appointed by th
Minister by name or by office to be a competent authority for th
purposes of this Act;
"co-operative union or co-operative society"
includes any
society registered or deemed to be
registered under th
Co-operative Societies Law, No 5 of 1972;
"document" has the same meaning as in the Penal Code;
"explosives" has the same meaning as in the Explosives Act;
"firearms" has the same meaning as in the Firearms Ordinance;
"local authority" means any Municipal Council, Urban Council,
Town Council or Village Council and
includes any Authority
created and established by or under any law to exercise, perform
and discharge powers, duties and functions corresponding to
or
similar to the powers, duties and functions exercised, performed
and discharged by any such Council;
"newspaper" includes any journal, magazine, pamphlet or other
publication;
"offensive weapon" has the same meaning as in the
Offensive
Weapons Act, No 18 of 1966;
"organisation" includes any movement,
society, party,
association or body or group of persons;
"printing press" includes any machinery,
apparatus or plant
capable of being used for printing, lithography, photography
or
other mode of representing or reproducing
words in a visible
form, or any type or other article belonging to such
machinery,
apparatus or plant;
"public corporation" means any corporation, board or other body
which was or is established by or under any
written law other
than the Companies Ordinance, with funds or capital
wholly or
partly provided by the Government by
way of grant, loan or
otherwise;
"specified person" means -
(a) the President;
(b) a Judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High
Court,
District Court, Magistrate's Court, Primary Court or
any other
Court of First Instance;
(c) any representative or official of a foreign State
or any
official or other agent of an international
organisation of an
inter-governmental character;
(d) a member of Parliament or of a local authority;
(e) any member of a commission established under
the Special
Presidential Commissions of Inquiry Law, No 7 of 1978, or
under
the Commissions of Inquiry Act;
(f) juror, counsel or officer of court; and
(g) any member of the Armed Forces, Police Force and any
other
Forces charged with the maintenance of public order.
"unlawful activity" means any action taken or act committed by
any means whatsoever, whether within or outside Sri Lanka,
and
whether such action was taken or act was
committed before or
after the date of coming into operation of all or any
of the
provisions of this Act in the commission or in
connection with
the commission of any offence under this Act or any act committed
prior to the date of passing of this Act, which act
would, if
committed after such date, constitute an offence under this Act.
[This definition was inserted by Amending Act 10 of 1982, w.e.f.
24 July 1979]
(2) All words and expressions used herein and defined in
the
Penal Code and not hereinbefore defined shall be deemed to
have
the meanings respectively attributed to them by that Code.
* * * * *
[General Note: This version of the the Prevention of
Terrorism
(Temporary Provisions) Act may not reflect all
the amendments
made to the Act so far.]
* * * * *
