Sri Lanka

The imposition of an obligation to perform work is not, in principle, prohibited under human rights conventions. However, the Court is required to ascertain whether the penalty provided for by the legislation of the requesting State amounts, in substance—irrespective of its formal designation—to treatment that violates the individual’s fundamental rights. Accordingly, in matters concerning forced labour and “work normally required of a detained person,” it is necessary to examine the consequences of any failure to comply with the obligation to provide compensation, whether the conviction expressly provides for forced labour and, if so, the nature and modalities of such labour, in order to determine whether it falls within the scope of “work normally required of a detained person.”