Category: Legal

Dec 09, 2007 (LBO) – A Saudi Arabian court has begun reviewing the case of a Sri Lankan housemaid condemned to death for killing a four-month-old infant in her care. The Middle Eastern English language daily Arab News reported Sunday that a three-member court, headed by Dawadmi High Court chief judge Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Rosaimi, […]

RIYADH, Dec 8, 2007 (AFP) – An appeal hearing was set to take place on Saturday in the case of a Sri Lankan housemaid condemned to death in Saudi Arabia, the Arab News reported.A three-judge panel will hear the appeal of Rizana Nafeek, who was convicted of strangling to death her employer’s four-month old baby […]

Dec 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s corporate sector has launched an initiative to encourage employers to adopt a code of conduct to combat sexual harassment in the workplace about which complaints are on the rise. Guidelines formulated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) aim to promote […]

Nov 29, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s large tea plantations have slammed state interference in wages that saw unions effectively egged onto breaking a legal wage deal and plantations firms forced into a new agreement. The Planters Association (PA), an industry body representing tea farms said the companies “were literally forced to accept the government […]

Nov 22, 2007 (LBO) – The hearing of the case against the sale of Sri Lanka Telecom shares by its Japanese shareholder to Malaysia’s UT group has been put off till February 25, court officials and laywers said. The Supreme Court halted the sale of shares of the country’s largest fixed access operator to a […]

Nov 22, 2007 (LBO) – The residence of a rebel Sri Lanka lawmaker had been bombed by unidentified persons Thursday, but the attackers had fled after a security guard fired back, the parliamentarian said. Former Minister Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi told LBO only his wife and children were at his home in the Colombo suburb of Borella, […]

DUBAI, Nov 14, 2007 (AFP) – The governments of Gulf countries including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as Lebanon, are failing to curb abuses against Sri Lankan domestic workers, Human Rights Watch charged Wednesday. “While much remains to be accomplished, the UAE government — working with the private sector and […]

GENEVA, Oct 30, 2007 (AFP) – The UN’s top torture expert, Manfred Nowak, said on Tuesday that torture — including beatings, asphyxiation and burning — was becoming “routine” during counter-terrorism operations in Sri Lanka.Nowak said in statement on his mission to the conflict-torn Indian Ocean island earlier this month that there was evidence that “torture […]

Oct 31, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bribery and corruption commission has vast powers to probe official misdeeds but cannot act except on a complaint and has its impartiality questioned by the presence of police investigators. Although commission officials say it is one of the most flexible and authoritative bodies compared to similar departments around […]

COLOMBO, Oct 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Friday ordered the closure of a Colombo radio station, charging that it had sparked panic with a false report of a rebel attack against civilians, officials said.The ABC radio station was ordered off the air following an investigation into a report broadcast Wednesday, media ministry officials […]

October 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supreme court has been asked to probe the allocation of over 50 billion rupees in next year’s budget for unspecified spending outside the authority of parliament which has raised suspicions of a hidden fund. The Court is expected to announce this week if it will allow the case […]

Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan companies should keep a close tab on the trade marks registry to ensure protection of their own marks, an intellectual property rights lawyer said Monday. Not being alert may result in copycat competitors registering similar trade marks and capturing market share, president’s counsel Harsha Cabral said. From multinational […]