The Government of
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 ...
(GoSL) ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a
parliamentary system determined by the
Sri Lankan Constitution
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාව, Śrī Laṃkā āndukrama vyavasthāva, ta, இலங்கை அரசிய ...
. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
and the administrative capital of
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, commonly known as Kotte (), is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a satellite city and located within the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, ...
.
Constitution
The Constitution of Sri Lanka has been the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
of the island nation of
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 ...
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 21 times.
Executive branch
The President, directly elected for a five-year term, is
head of state,
chief executive, 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
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...
and 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.
Elections
Sri Lanka elects on the national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, and 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies through a proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of the total vote that the party obtains in the district.
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.
Judicial branch
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the country. 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
The Parliamentary Council was a constitutional authority in Sri Lanka established under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Formally being constituted on January 1, 2011 as per the 18th Amendment, it replaces the Constitutional ...
, others by the
Judicial Service Commission.
Sri Lanka has a legal system which is an amalgam of English
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
,
Roman-Dutch civil law and
Customary Law
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudina ...
.
Notes
References
External links
;General
Government of Sri LankaThe Official Website of the Data and Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat, Sri Lanka;Law
Official site of the Judicial Service Commission SecretariatSri Lanka's Legal Information Network;Executive Branch
Official site of the Presidency
Official site of the Presidential Secretariat;Legislative Branch
Official site of the Parliament of Sri Lanka;Judiciary
Official site of the Supreme Court of Sri LankaOfficial site of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka;Others
Official Government News Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Government Of Sri Lanka