Category:Cases - Ongoing, Legal
CASE NUMBER
SC/FR/01/21
Under the Forest Conservation Ordinance, No 16 of 1907 as amended, there are three types of forests in Sri Lanka: Conservation Forests, Reserved Forests or Forest Reserves and Village Forests. All these types are afforded legal protection under the said legislation. The areas which are not declared under any other enactment are called “Other State Forests” and were brought under the purview of the Forest Conservation Department subsequent to Circular No. 05/2001.
Following the Cabinet decision dated 01/07/2020, the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation issued Circular No. MWFC/1/2020 to revoke Circular No. 05/2001 (amended by Circular No. 02/2006) that vested the management, development and protection of all the Other State Forests with the Department of Forests.
According to the mechanism provided in the Circular No. 05/2001, Other State Forests can be released for development purposes only upon such a proposal being examined by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and after carrying out an Environment Assessment in terms of the National Environmental Act.
EFL filed a Fundamental Rights application on 18.12.2020 challenging the above-mentioned circular on the grounds that it violated fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution and amounts to a violation of the fundamental duties of the State.
Updates
When the application came up on the 27th of October 2023, Mr. Charith Galhena AAL informed Court that the new Cabinet decision and memorandum filed by the State by way of Motion dated 27th September 2023 doesn’t not address the grievances of the Petitioner and accordingly, the application was fixed for Argument on the 02nd of February 2024.
