The Max Planck Foundation organised a discussion series for Members in partnership with the Parliament of Sri Lanka
In close consultation with Parliament, with the guidance and approval of the Honourable (Dr) Jagath Wickramaratne, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and support of the Secretary-General and Secretariat, the Foundation successfully delivered an orientation seminar series for members of the recently reconstituted Sectoral Oversight Committees on Best Practices for Undertaking Legislative Scrutiny.
The discussion series, which took place inside the premises of Parliament on 22 and 23 May 2025, marked the Foundation’s first engagement with members. It came at a timely moment, following the general elections in November 2024, which saw 165 out of 225 elected as first-time members, and a renewed focus on strengthening parliamentary practices and legislative oversight. The seminars focused on how the rule of law benchmarks can help to guide members in assessing the quality and potential impact of bills at the committee stage. It considers the international standards and legislative techniques to identify potential weaknesses in proposals, prevent regulatory failure and achieve the core objectives of legislation.
Opening remarks were provided by the Honourable Speaker and the Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament. The first session, delivered by a Foundation research fellow, discussed the principles and techniques for reviewing government legislative proposals to strengthen enforcement, implementation and compliance mechanisms. The second session, delivered by Dr Enrico Albanesi (Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Genoa and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London) addressed key rule of law considerations—legality, legal certainty, and safeguards against arbitrary use of statutory powers—as guiding benchmarks for evaluating proposed legislation. Using practical illustrations and sample legislative provisions from across various commonwealth parliaments, both sessions highlighted potential risk areas for members to examine how these standards and techniques can be applied to help ensure that laws are effective, implementable, and resilient against unintended or negative consequences through interactive discussions.
The nominated members in attendance, from both government and opposition parties serving in Sectoral Oversight Committees, engaged actively in the sessions and practical discussions, sharing their reflections on parliamentary practices in Sri Lanka and exploring ways through which international standards and comparative practices could help strengthen the impact of legislative scrutiny by parliamentary oversight committees in Sri Lanka. Committee staff from the Parliament Secretariat and representatives from other parliamentary leadership offices were also in attendance.
The Foundation’s technical assistance to the Parliament of Sri Lanka is tailored to support Parliament’s own efforts to strengthen institutional capacities to conduct effective oversight through ad hoc consultations, capacity-building initiatives and technical legal advice on parliamentary procedure. This institutional cooperation is made possible through the German Federal Foreign Office-funded project, ‘Consolidating the Rule of Law in Sri Lanka: Strengthening the Resilience of Democratic Institutions to Promote Stability in the Face of Crises.’