Jan 17, Colombo: The parliament of Sri Lanka next week will debate and approve legislation to extend the period of detention of persons who have been arrested without a warrant.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provision) Bill presented to the parliament on October 11 last year by the Justice Minister would enable the police to detain a person who has been arrested without a warrant for 48 hours.

Currently a person arrested by the police without a warrant has to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. Under the new law the police can detain a person for 48 hours before producing the suspect in a court.

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

The legislation is to be taken up for debate and approval when parliament meets next Tuesday (22).

Following a fundamental rights petition filed against the legislation before the Supreme Court last year, the court has held that Clause 8 of the Bill was inconsistent with the Constitution and should be approved by a special majority.