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Sri Lanka Project
Sri Lanka Project
The Constitution of Sri Lanka has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri
Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7
September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution, and its third
constitution since the country's independence (as Ceylon) in 1948. As of October
2020 it has been formally amended 20 times.
Executive branch
The President, directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state, head of
government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The election occurs under
the Sri Lankan form of the contingent vote. Responsible to Parliament for the
exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, the president may be removed
from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme
Court.
The President appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to Parliament.
The President's deputy is the prime minister, who leads the ruling party in
Parliament. The President can dissolve the cabinet and appoint a new one at any
time.
Main office holders
The president is directly elected for a five-year term, through a version of Instant-
runoff voting in which electors rank up to three candidates, and limited to only two
rounds in total. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, second and
third preferences from ballots whose first preference candidate has been eliminated
are used to determine the winner.[1] However, there has never been an instance
where a "run-off" count has been needed since the introduction of directly elected
president in the 1980s, as a candidate reached 50% in the first count in all elections.
Legislative branch
The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a six-year term, 196 members elected
in multi-seat constituencies and 29 by proportional representation. The President
may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament any
time after it has served for one year. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws.
The primary modification is that the party that receives the largest number of valid
votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat" (see Hickman, 1999). Since
its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth
of Nations.
The High Court has jurisdiction in criminal matters, the district courts in civil
matters.Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president, others by the
Judicial Service Commission.
It is set out in the constitution, which defines courts as independent institutions within
the traditional framework of checks and balances.
The Sri Lankan courts are presided over by professional judges, judges of the
Supreme Court are appointed by the President with the nomination of
the Parliamentary Council, others by the Judicial Service Commission.[2]
Sri Lanka has a legal system which is an amalgam of English common law, Roman-
Dutch civil law and Customary Law.