(Hong Kong, September 04, 2023)
The Right to Information Commission in Sri Lanka has issued an order in terms of its powers under the RTI Act. Regarding a petition filed by an attorney at law in which the Bar Association is the respondent. The Bar Association objected to the power of the Commission on the basis that, The Bar Association is not a Public Authority and therefore the RTI has no authority to entertain and determine this petition.
However, the Commission after examining all the arguments from the petitioner and the respondent held that the Bar Association falls within the scope and the meaning of a non-governmental organization, since it receives funds from governments and other sources and therefore is accountable to the public and is a Public Authority and therefor falls within the ambit of RTI Act.
This is a very important order and is likely to have a considerable impact on many aspects of the functioning of the Bar Association.
The full text of the order of the RTI can be found at the following link.
