Ministry of Public Security (Sri Lanka)

The Ministry of Public Security^[2] (Sinhala: මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය Mahajana Arakshaka Amathyanshaya; Tamil: பொதுமக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு) is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for law and order. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on law and order and other subjects which come under its purview.^[3] The ministry manages the country's police. The current Minister of Public Security is Vijitha Herath.^[1] The ministry's secretary is Ravi Seneviratne.^[4]

Ministry of Public Security

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය பொதுமக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு
Ministry overview
Formed	16 August 2013; 11 years ago (2013-08-16)
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	Floor 14, Suhurupaya, Subuthipura road, Battaramulla 6.903069°N 79.917034°E / 6.903069; 79.917034
Annual budget	LKR 63 billion (2018, recurrent) LKR 5 billion (2018, capital)
Minister responsible	Hon. Vijitha Herath[1], Minister of Public Security
Ministry executive	Ravi Seneviratne, Ministry Secretary
Child agencies	Sri Lanka Police Service National Dangerous Drugs Control Board Galle Heritage Foundation
Website	www.pubsec.gov.lk

History

Since independence in 1948 the Sri Lankan police had come under the Ministry of Defence. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission had recommended that policing be transferred to a separate ministry.^[5][6] The Ministry of Law and Order was established on 16 August 2013 to manage policing in the country.^[7][8][9]

Ministers

The Minister of Public Security is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

Ministers of Law and Order

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Head of government		Ministerial title	Refs
	Mahinda Rajapaksa		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	26 August 2013	8 January 2015		Mahinda Rajapaksa	Minister of Law and Order	[10][11]
	John Amaratunga		United National Party	12 January 2015	22 March 2015		Maithripala Sirisena	Minister of Public Order, Disaster Management and Christian Affairs	[12][13][14]
				22 March 2015	17 August 2015			Minister of Public Order and Christian Religious Affairs	[15][16][17][18]
	Tilak Marapana		United National Party	4 September 2015	9 November 2015			Minister of Law and Order and Prison Reforms	[19][20][21]
	Sagala Ratnayaka		United National Party	11 November 2015	25 February 2018			Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development	[22][23][24][25]
	Ranil Wickremesinghe		United National Party	25 February 2018	8 March 2018			Minister of Law and Order	[26][27][28]
	Ranjith Madduma Bandara		United National Party	8 March 2018	18 November 2019				[29][30][31]

Secretaries

Law and Order Secretaries

Name	Took office	Left office	Title	Refs
Nanda Mallawaarachchi	19 August 2013		Law and Order Secretary	[32][33][34]
Mahinda Balasuriya	20 October 2014		Law and Order Secretary	[35][36][37]
T. M. K. B. Tennakoon	19 January 2015		Public Order, Disaster Management and Christian Affairs Secretary	[38][39][40][41]
Jagath Wijeweera	8 September 2015		Law and Order and Prison Reforms Secretary	[42][43][44]
	19 November 2015		Law and Order and Southern Development Secretary	[45]

References

1. "LIST OF CABINET MINISTERS". cabinetoffice.gov.lk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
2. "Extra Gazette No. 2281/41 of 27.05.2022 (Duties and Functions)" (PDF). documents.gov.lk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
3. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA Notification" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1933/13. 21 September 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. "Ravi Seneviratne appointed Secretary of Public Security". President's Ada Derana.
5. Ferdinando, Shamindra (24 August 2013). "Police, STF placed under new ministry in line with LLRC recommendations – GR". The Island (Sri Lanka).
6. Karunaratne, Waruni (27 October 2013). "Law Out Of Order?". The Sunday Leader.
7. "Police Dept. brought under purview of newly-established Ministry". News First. 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013.
8. "New Ministry of Law and Order set up". Daily FT. 24 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
9. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA Notification" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1823/70. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
10. Perera, Chaminda (24 August 2013). "BRAND NEW LAW AND ORDER MINISTRY BORN". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 28 January 2015.
11. "Talk at the Cafe Spectator". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 25 May 2014.
12. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1897/16. 18 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015.
13. "New Cabinet ministers sworn in". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 12 January 2015.
14. "New Cabinet takes oaths". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015.
15. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1907/48. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015.
16. "More Ministers appointed". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 22 March 2015.
17. "Cabinet balloons to 40 as 26 more SLFPers luck out". The Island (Sri Lanka). 23 March 2015.
18. Weerasinghe, Chamikara (23 March 2015). "SLFPers take oaths as ministers in National Govt". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
19. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1932/07. 14 September 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
20. "New Cabinet". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 4 September 2015.
21. "The new Cabinet". Ceylon Today. 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015.
22. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1941/26. 19 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
23. "Sagala, Swaminathan sworn in as Ministers". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 11 November 2015.
24. Santiago, Melanie (11 November 2015). "Update: Ministers Sagala Ratnayaka and Swaminathan given additional portfolios". News First.
25. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications NOTIFICATION" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 2062/26. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
26. Marasinghe, Sandasen; Mallawaarachchi, Amali (26 February 2018). "President reshuffles UNP pack". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
27. "PM sworn is as law and order minister in low key reshuffle". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
28. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & C., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 2062/27. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
29. "Ranjith Madduma Bandara new Law and Order Minister". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
30. "Ranjith Madduma Bandara appointed Law and Order Minister". The Sunday Leader/Colombo Gazette. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
31. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & C., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 2063/39. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
32. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1825/08. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
33. "Major General (Rtd.) Nanda Mallawarachchi receives the letter of appointment as Law and Order Ministry Secretary from President Mahinda Rajapaksa". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 24 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015.
34. Ranwala, Madura (31 August 2013). "Law and Order Ministry Secy. vows to make police people friendly". The Island (Sri Lanka).
35. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1886/07. 27 October 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015.
36. Dias, Supun (20 October 2014). "Ex-IGP Balasuriya new Law and Order Secretary". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
37. Shanmugarajah, Kavinthan (20 October 2014). "New appointment for Dr Mahinda Balasuriya". News First.
38. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1899/14. 28 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015.
39. Edirisinghe, Dasun (20 January 2015). "President reminds new Ministry secretaries of their fundamental duty". The Island (Sri Lanka).
40. "The new Ministry Secretaries receive their appointments". Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015.
41. "Secretaries appointed to new Ministries". news.lk. 19 January 2015.
42. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1932/69. 18 September 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
43. "44 new Ministry Secretaries appointed". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 8 September 2015.
44. "New Secretaries to Ministries appointed". The Island (Sri Lanka). 9 September 2015.
45. "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1942/29. 27 November 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

• Official website