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Visiting Parliament
General Details
Any Member of the Public may visit the public galleries of Parliament either as a group or individually on any sitting or non-sitting day. Visits are arranged for 30 (Thirty) minutes duration between 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. on non-sitting days and till the end of the sessions on any sitting day.
Time of Sittings
Unless Parliament otherwise decides, Parliament shall meet in two alternate weeks in each month commencing after the first Sunday of each month and shall sit on the Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of the first and third of such weeks. Parliament does not ordinarily sit on Saturdays and Sundays and other holidays and the sittings of Parliament are usually held from 1.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. On some days the sittings might be extended beyond 7.30 p.m. During the budget period, generally, the allotted hours of sittings shall be 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 1.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. and may subject to change from time to time.
Permission to visit Galleries
In order to visit the Public Galleries, permission needs to be obtained from the Serjeant-at-Arms. Such a request may be made by contacting the Parliament directly or by completing and forwarding an Inquiry Form. In your inquiry you would have to furnish the following details;
| 1. |
Full Names & addresses of the visitors |
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| 2. |
National Identity Card (NIC) Numbers of the visitors |
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| 3. |
Date and Time of Visit |
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| 4. |
Purpose of Visit: |
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| 5. |
Your Contact details |
Once your details have been processed the Serjeant-at-Arms would contact you to confirm your request and in turn would issue the pass to enter the Parliamentary Complex.
Instructions for Visitors to Parliament
| 1. |
Only those who possess a pass issued by the Serjeant-at-Arms, valid for the date of visit, will be allowed to visit the Parliamentary Complex. Therefore, the permission card issued to you by the Serjeant-at-Arms for that purpose should be brought by you without fail and kept safely with you until you leave the Parliament building. |
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On account of the security arrangements in force at present in Parliament, items such as parcels, hand bags, brief cases, travelling bags, books, newspapers, documents, pens, pencils, rain coats, umbrellas, cameras, cellular phones, electric or electronic items or accessories, cigarettes, tobacco, chews of betel, smoking pipes, food items, hats etc. are not allowed to be brought into the Public Gallery. Therefore refrain from bringing in such items. If you have any of the above mentioned things with you, leave them in your vehicle. Apart from the above mentioned items, any other items which may be deemed as those not to be allowed inside the Gallery, too will not be allowed to be brought in. |
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Since infants and small children are not allowed to be brought into the Gallery at times when Parliament is in session, they should not be taken into the Gallery. You must ensure that babies and small school children are not seated in the first row of the Gallery. |
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Visitors who are not properly dressed will not be allowed to enter the Galleries. Therefore, visitors to the Public Galleries should be properly dressed. |
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Since the entry of vehicles to the Parliament premises is restricted on security grounds, your vehicle should not be driven into the Parliament premises. As facilities have been provided to park the vehicles of visitors to Parliament in the parking area where the restaurant is situated opposite Parliament premises, please park your vehicles there. |
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After parking your vehicle in the said parking area,you are required to cross the main road with your group and call at the Security Check Point at Jayanthipura. |
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On showing the pass to the Police on duty at the Security Check Point of Jayanthipura, you are required to proceed to the Security Officers' Room and inform them of your arrival. Once the necessary entries are made in their Registers to that effect, a Parliament bus will be called by the Security Officers to transport your group to the Parliament building from the Security Check Point at Jayanthipura |
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All visitors to Parliament will be subjected to a security check. Therefore you are required to allow the police to check you physically at the Security Check Point at Jayanthipura. |
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Your vehicle will be allowed to be brought in upto the Security Check Point at Jayanthipura only on rainy days and on such occasions the vehicle should be parked in the premises of the restaurant referred to above after the visitors are dropped at the Check Point. |
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You may proceed up to the Public Entrance
of the Parliament building in the Parliament bus allocated
for you after being subjected to the body check. Refrain
from walking and make sure that you reach the aforesaid
entrance only in the bus provided to you. |
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You have to get down from the bus at the Public Entrance and the Police Officers who are on duty at the Public Entrance will lead you to the entrance to the building. |
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You will be subjected once again to a security
check at the said entrance and therefore forming two queues
with men in the right queue and women in the left queue
will make the security check easy. The leader of your
group should produce his National Identity Card and the
pass issued to you by the Sergeant-at-Arms to the Police
Officers who are on duty in that particular point. |
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You can enter the Parliament building through
the Public Entrance and proceed up to the Public Gallery
by using the stairs on to the West. The officers of the
Parliament Police and the officers of the Parliament will
direct you to the Gallery and make sure that you don't
walk into areas beyond it. |
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Please make sure that the school children and other children whom you accompany walk up the stairs carefully and in an orderly manner. |
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The members of your group must maintain
complete silence while they are in the Public Gallery
or in any other area of the building. You should make
sure that they maintain silence so that the functioning
of the institution is not disturbed and that they behave
properly and also that they will not damage audio visual
and other equipment in the Public Gallery and the Institution.
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Smoking, talking, clapping, merry-making, making various sounds, cracking jokes, walking about and keep standing, making fun, making signals using facial expressions, peeping into the chamber, pointing fingers, hands, legs etc. towards the Chamber, throwing various objects into the Chamber, waving or making signals to the Hon. Members of Parliament, sleeping, taking down notes, and reading books and papers are strictly prohibited while you are in the Public Gallery. |
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Jumping over the security fences and occupying seats in the newspaper gallery should not be done while you are in the Public Gallery and you should take seats as directed by the Parliament Officer or the Police Officer who is on duty at the Public Gallery. The Police Officers will remove persons who are in the Public Gallery if there is a commotion inside the Chamber, and you should obey the orders given by them in such instances. |
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Please take special care about the children in your group after returning to the Public Entrance from the Public Gallery as many vehicles are often driven in the area beyond the Public Entrance and make sure that they behave well and that they do not run about. |
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The members of your group (specially the children) should be given instructions to stay calm until the bus, which will transport you from the Public Entrance to the Check Point at Jayanthipura, reaches the Public Entrance. |
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Do not allow children and the other members of your group to stay close to the bank of the Diyawanna Oya as it is dangerous. |
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Souvenir items could be purchased from the Parliament souvenir shop near the Public Entrance, only when departing after viewing Parliament. |
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