States of Emergency - Centre for Policy Alternatives

statutory framework is founded on the assumption that
emergencies are the temporary exception to the norm of
constitutional government, in practice what we have seen is that
the fact of protracted and intractable conLlict has made the
exception the norm. Thus, apart from brief periods, emergency
government has become institutionalised and normalised, with
many of the empirical and structural consequences we discussed
in detail in Chapter 3. Moreover, the special regime of antiterrorism
powers under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary
Provisions) Act is not merely a nomenclatural misnomer; it has
served to negate the fundamental analytical assumption of the
legal accommodation model about the norm and the exception. 272
This outline, which includes the judicial interpretation of the
textual provisions, will be used to measure the Sri Lankan
framework against the international and comparative standards
discussed above in Part I of the book.
5.1
 The
 Constitutional
 and
 Statutory
 Framework:
 Chapter
XVIII
and
the
PSO
The constitutional framework governing states of emergency is set
out in Chapter XVIII, which primarily concerns procedural
requirements and the oversight role of Parliament during their
currency. The substantive powers brought into operation by a
state of emergency are set out in the Public Security Ordinance No.
25 of 1947 as amended (PSO). The power to promulgate
emergency regulations (i.e., the grant of legislative power to the
executive) is provided under Part II of the PSO.
272
See Chapter 1
177