Sri Lanka’s track record in the field of animal welfare legislation and the effective enforcement of such legislation since the country’s independence in 1948, has been unfortunately poor. It is a national shame to have one of the world’s most antiquated pieces of animal welfare legislation on the statute books, i.e., Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance No:13 of 1907, as the governing legislation.
Government indifference, since Independence in 1948, towards bringing the law governing animal welfare in Sri Lanka in line with modern legislation now in force in several other countries, led to increasing calls for law reform of the area by a number of animal welfare societies and the people.
This writer (referred to in the first-person singular hereafter) was one such person. I prepared a paper entitled “The Requirement for New Animal Welfare Legislation in Sri Lanka” and it was read at the ‘7th Sri Lanka Studies Conference’ held in Canberra, Australia from December 3 - 6, 1999. This paper identified substantial deficiencies in the
Ordinance
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, No.13 of 1907 called for the enactment of modern legislation on animal welfare in Sri Lanka.
It also identified current trends in similar legislation in foreign countries which had incorporated internationally recognised principles in ensuring the humane treatment of animals and their welfare in general.
I addressed a letter to Justice Dr. A. R. B. Amerasinghe, Chairman of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka, dated January 21, 2000, and enclosed a copy of the Paper entitled “The Requirement for New Animal Welfare Legislation in Sri Lanka”, and requested the Chairman to consider the review of laws relating to animals in Sri Lanka pointing out that laws in regard to animals in Sri Lanka were archaic and obsolete and were in need of urgent reforms.
The Chairman responded by inviting me to deliver a talk which I did in the Board Room of the Law Commission on the topic ‘ The Requirement for new Animal Welfare legislation in Sri Lanka’ for members of the Commission, senior Government Officials, and members of Animal Welfare Societies, on February 1, 2000.
The very next day I received a hand-delivered letter to my residence from Dr. A.R.B. Amerasinghe saying that the Law Commission had decided to pursue work in relation to repealing the archaic Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, No. 13 of 1907, and replacing it with an Animal Welfare Act.
Having realised the need for reform especially in view of the lacunae in the laws and historical cultural heritage that comes down from time immemorial that treats animals kindly and humanely especially in the pre-colonial era, the Chairman acceded to the call made by the writer and several other Animal Rights activists and Animal Welfare societies to initiate an examination of the laws relating to animals in Sri Lanka.
Justice Dr. A R B Amerasinghe directed Lakshmi Gunasekera, Secretary, Law Commission of Sri Lanka to include Animal Welfare Laws in the Program of Work of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka for the period 2000 to 2004 and also in the Annual Report of 2002 submitted to the Minister of Justice, Law Reforms, Buddha Sasana and National Integration to be laid before Parliament.
Law Commission
He offered me a position on the Law Commission as an (Honorary) Legal Consultant on Animal Welfare legislation with a specific mandate to help the Law Commission to draft a new Animal Welfare Act.
I was very keen to devote my legal training to help the cause of animals and make a lasting contribution to their welfare in the best way that I possibly can – advocacy and drafting laws that will raise the levels of protection given to animals and their better treatment in line with modern standards.
The Assistant Secretary of the Law Commission, Anande Amaraweera, Attorney – at – Law, was assigned to help this project and me in my work at the Law Commission.
The Law Commission of Sri Lanka caused advertisements to be published in the media inviting suggestions for reform of animal laws in Sri Lanka from the public, lawyers, judges, organisations, state and private institutions, and any other stakeholders interested in the welfare of animals. The Law Commission processed all suggestions received and subsequently had discussions with those who sent in the suggestions for several days. The Law Commission took into account and considered all.
Legislation governing Animal Welfare in foreign jurisdictions such as the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, European Union, India, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, and the several States of Australia i.e., Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria were examined critically.
The Law Commission released the draft Animal Welfare Act for the public comments in October 2004 and the comments received at the end of December 2004 were tabulated and circulated among the participants of the Workshop organised and held by the Law Commission on March 5, 2005 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The then Minister of Justice and Law Reforms, his officials of the Ministry and other relevant Officers, media personnel, members of the public, and other interested groups were present.
Once again Anande Amaraweera, the then Assistant Secretary to the Law Commission of Sri Lanka in association with Senaka Weeraratna, tabulated the comments recorded at the Work Shop and submitted them to the Law Commission for its consideration.
Revised draft
At a meeting held in September 2005, the Law Commission of Sri Lanka decided to refer the revised draft Animal Welfare Act submitted to a Sub Committee to be further studied and reported back to the Law Commission of Sri Lanka for its approval.
The Sub Committee held several meetings at which the draft Act and comments received were considered in depth and amendments introduced. It then submitted the revised draft to the Law Commission for its further consideration and finalisation. The Draft Animal Welfare Act was finalised and presented to the President in May 2006 by a delegation comprising the then Minister of Justice Amarasiri Dodangoda, then Chairman of the Law Commission Prof. Lakshman Marasinghe, and Lakshmi Gunasekera, then Secretary, Law Commission.
One of the main purposes of the draft Act (Animal Welfare Bill) prepared by the Law Commission was the establishment of a new institution, i.e. the National Animal Welfare Authority, that will administer the Act, develop policies, and strengthen and expand the enforcement machinery.
New Authority
The establishment of a new Authority is a sine qua non for any meaningful law reform on any animal welfare in Sri Lanka. It is meant to be the lynchpin in ensuring the proper implementation of the proposed Act.
There are a number of administrative institutions based overseas and locally, which can serve as models for the proposed Authority. The Animal Welfare Board of India is one such model. It was the first of its kind to be established by any Government in the world. The Board was established in 1962 pursuant to the terms of Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 of India. In the U.K. there is a separate Ministry for Animal Welfare.
In Sri Lanka, the Department of Wild Life Conservation and the Forest Conservation Department is responsible for the administration of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance of 1937. These Departments constitute sound models for the establishment of the National Animal Welfare Authority.
The prevailing enforcement machinery in Sri Lanka is weak. There is no proper lead agency to administer the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907. The Authority will be required to provide advice to the Minister on animal welfare reform.
The Draft Act of the Law Commission provides for the right of intervention on behalf of animals: the right to plead the cause of those beings who cannot articulate their suffering.
The norm has been to treat animals as ‘chattels’ or ‘private property ‘ rather than a ‘person’ in the eyes of the law as animal-owners have exclusive rights under the present law. However, clause 44, of the Draft Act which deals with the right of intervention, provides room for “an Animal Welfare Inspector or an officer of an Animal Welfare Society to intervene in court proceedings in the interests of the welfare of the animal”, “where an animal becomes a subject of court proceedings”.
More animal sanctuaries are also envisioned under the Draft Act which would prevent the animal from being relegated to a “prison farm”. Another welcome change and timely is that penalties for people and organisations found guilty of offences have been greatly increased.
The maximum penalty for cruelty in the Act (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance) was Rs. 200 or three-month imprisonment. The maximum penalty for cruelty in the Draft Act is Rs. 125,000 or three years in prison.
Interestingly, the Draft Act applies to all animals-including ‘strays’ who were not previously included in the law.
“Animal” has been defined to include any living creature other than a human being and includes domestic animals, farm animals, animals in captivity, and wild animals.
Responsible care and the use of animals through the adoption of the legal principle of duty of care and the appointment of animal welfare inspectors by the authority are two other central features of the Draft Act.
A step forward
The Animal Welfare Act is an ambitious exercise. It is huge a step forward given the abysmal state of legislation protecting animals in Sri Lanka. The Law Commission, in particular, is entitled to public acclaim for its decision to spearhead law reform in the area of animal welfare. It reflects the Commission’s sensitivity to growing community anger on this issue and more importantly to the plight of animals.
It is unfortunate that it has taken 15 years after the release of the Animal Welfare draft Act by the Law Commission (2006) for it to receive approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. It has not been gazetted as yet. Its total content is still unknown.