Cabinet presented with suggestions to amend 60 outdated laws next year

The Cabinet had been presented with suggestions to amend 60 laws, Minister of Justice Mohamed Ali Sabry said yesterday addressing an event at Medawachchiya.

The Minister said that a lot of laws would be amended in the next six to 12 months. He added that there were many antiquated laws that were adversely affecting the people.

“Some of these obstruct development. If you file a case under these laws not even the Supreme Court can grant bail. Some people spend five years in remand prison although they are innocent,” the Minister said, commenting on some laws on treasure hunting.

Minister Sabry said that serial treasure hunters knew how to get away when they were caught.

“Some laws ensure that cases drag on indefinitely. This affects foreign investments too. I have been a lawyer for many years. When foreigners came to me to file a case, often about an investment gone wrong, they asked me two questions. How long it would go on and how much the cost was. Most cases drag on for about 10 years, and we would say it’s hard to say. As for the second question, we can never tell the cost of litigation because we don’t know how long the case will go on,” he said.

Most foreign investors never filed cases, and such experiences prevented others from coming in to invest here, the minister said. Laws needed to be changed to eliminate delays and ensure that the public faith was restored in the legal system and such changes would take place in 2022, he said. (RK)