Oct 12, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has presented legislation to parliament to extend the period of detention of persons who have been arrested without a warrant.

Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem has presented the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provision) Bill to the parliament.

The government says that the detention period has been extended to 48 hours after arrest in order to facilitate the investigation process.

According to the government Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provision) Bill will provide for the extension of detention of persons arrested without a warrant in order to facilitate the conduct of investigations for dispensing with the conduct of the non-summary inquiry in certain cases; to provide for the taking of depositions of witnesses for the prosecution; and to make provisions for matters connected with the arrest or related incidents.

However, after the end of the initial 24 hours following the arrest of a person without a warrant in relation to an offence specified in the Schedule to the Criminal Procedure Act of 1979, the period of detention could be extended for a period not more than another 24 hours on an order made by a Magistrate.