Sri Lanka’s Trusts (Amendment) Bill has received the approval of Parliament’s Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection, allowing the proposed legislation to proceed through further parliamentary scrutiny.
The committee approved the bill during a meeting held on November 4 under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Dr. Najith Indika.
Parliament confirmed the decision in an announcement published on November 5.
The legislation seeks to amend the Trusts Ordinance, Chapter 87, which forms part of Sri Lanka’s existing legal framework governing trusts.
Bill introduced on October 21
Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara presented the bill to Parliament for its first reading on October 21, 2026.
The legislation was subsequently referred for committee examination.
Officials from the Legal Draftsman’s Department and the Ministry of Justice briefed committee members on the proposed amendments.
The committee approved the bill following those discussions.
Parliament’s November 5 announcement does not reproduce the individual amendments or provide a detailed account of the legal changes proposed.
The text of the bill is therefore necessary to determine which provisions of the existing ordinance would be altered and how those changes would affect trustees, beneficiaries and other parties.
Committee approval does not complete legislative process
The bill was scheduled for its second reading in Parliament on November 5.
The published parliamentary business programme stated that the second reading would proceed subject to the applicable constitutional procedures concerning petitions to the Supreme Court.
Committee approval and parliamentary enactment are separate stages.
The November 5 committee announcement confirms the former but does not establish the outcome of the scheduled parliamentary debate.
It also does not confirm that the bill received final parliamentary approval or presidential certification.
The proposed amendments should therefore continue to be described as legislation under consideration unless subsequent parliamentary records establish otherwise.
Members from several parties participated
The committee meeting included MPs Ajith P. Perera, President’s Counsel Faizer Mustapha, retired Major General G.D. Sooriyabandara and Dharmapriya Wijesinghe.
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Draftsman’s Department provided explanations of the amendments.
The parliamentary announcement does not disclose whether committee members proposed changes to the bill’s wording.
Nor does it provide a recorded division of votes.
The next documents required for a full examination are the bill’s published text, the parliamentary proceedings concerning its second reading and any amendments adopted during subsequent stages.
