The Executive Council of Ceylon was the Executive Council created in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) by the British colonial administration on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission along with the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first f ...

in March 1833.

History

The 1833 Colebrooke-Cameron Commission recommended the creation of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council, the first step in representative government in British Ceylon. Accordingly, both were established on 19 March 1833 by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

. The Executive Council initially consisted of the British Governor (the president of the council) and five other senior British officials: the General Officer Commanding, the Colonial Secretary (Principal Secretary), the Kings's Advocate, the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

and the Government Agent for the Central Province. The governor had to consult the Executive Council in the discharge of his duties but he could over rule the council's advice. In 1840 the

Auditor-General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

replaced the Government Agent for the Central Province on the council and in 1883 the Queen's Advocate post was renamed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. The Second Manning Reforms of 1924 added four unofficial members to the Executive Council. The 1927-8

Donoughmore Commission The Donoughmore Commission (DC) was responsible for the creation of the Donoughmore Constitution in effect between 1931–47 in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). In 1931 there were approximately 12% Ceylonese Tamils, 12% Indian Tamils (migrant an ...

recommended that Ceylon be given limited self-government and the replacement of the Legislative Council and Executive Council with the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

and Board of Ministers respectively. Accordingly, the Executive Council was abolished in 1931.

List

References

1833 establishments in Ceylon 1931 disestablishments in Ceylon Government of Sri Lanka Governance of the British Empire Privy councils {{SriLanka-stub