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The Judicial System in Sri Lanka

Article · November 2020

DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.13281101.v1

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The Judicial System in Sri Lanka

Banuka N. De Silva 3 days ago

K. Banuka N. De Silva
BA (SP) Criminology and Criminal Justice
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
The University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.

Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3735185

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5118-2997

The judiciary is a system of courts adjudicating legal disputes and interpreting, defending and applying the law
in legal cases. The purpose of this article is to identify the evolution of Sri Lanka’s Judiciary System and its
functions.

Sri Lanka’s judiciary evolution

In the monarchical era, the justice system in Sri Lanka was born. The king was the highest and highest judge,
whilst the judiciary worked under an unwritten legal system. He also received the final appeal for any judgement.
During their rule in Sri Lanka, Portuguese continued using the old Sinhala judicial system. ‘Korale’, ‘Disave’ and
‘Vidane’ exercised their jurisdiction as the system or the ‘Gam Sabha’ of the village council was also continued.
Three judicial districts, Colombo, Jaffna and Galle, were established over the Dutch period. They used systemic
judiciary. During British colonial rule, the court was made much more systematic. The British judiciary has
therefore also further applied the Romano-Dutch law introduced by the Netherlands. Over that period, a decision
made by the apex court in Sri Lanka could be appealed to the British private council. That power was abolished by
constitutional reforms in 1972. According to the Law of Dispensing Justice introduced in 1973, the Supreme Court
of Sri Lanka was appointed an apex court, while the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the District Court, the
Magistrate Court and the Primary Courts remained the other courts of the Sri Lankan judicial system. The current
system of courts is defined by the Judicature Act No 02 of 1978. However, the modern form of the European way
of justice originated during the Dutch colonial occupation of the coastal areas of Sri Lanka in the nineteenth
century. Local conditions of civil and criminal law, as well as the system of courts, existed for centuries before the
European colonization.

Sri Lanka’s current judicial system

Supreme court

(Source: Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Archives | Sri Lanka News – Newsfirst. (2020, Nov. 18).
Retrieved from https://www.newsfirst.lk/tag/supreme-court-of-sri-lanka).

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka was established on 18 April 1801 with the Royal Charter of Justice of King George
the 3rd establishing the Supreme Courts of Ceylon by the British, who controlled most of the island at the time,
excluding Kandy’s inland territory. This creation was abolished in 1833 and replaced by a new Charter covering
the entire island. The Supreme Court is the highest and final supreme court of record and is empowered to
exercise its powers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The Court of First Instance or the Court of First
Instance shall have final and final jurisdiction in civil and criminal appeals. It’s headed by Chief Justice. The
Supreme Court, consisting of 11 Judges, including the Hon. Generally, The Chief Justice appoint by the President
of Sri Lanka. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka recognises the jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court as follows:

Jurisdiction in respect of Constitutional matters,

Jurisdiction in respect of Fundamental Rights,

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Final Appellate Jurisdiction,
Consultative Jurisdiction,
Jurisdiction in Elections Petitions (Presidential election),
Jurisdiction in respect of any breach of Privileges of the Parliament, and
Jurisdiction in respect of such other matters which Parliament may by Law vest or ordain.

The Registry of the Supreme Court shall assist the Supreme Court in the performance of its functions for which the
Ministry of Justice grants the provisions of Head 234. The functions of the Supreme Court Registry shall include:

Maintenance of the Record of the Supreme Court.

Arrangements for sittings and schedule of applications.
Record of Court Orders and Judgments.
Enrolment of Attorneys-at-Law at the Supreme Court.
Preparation of briefs received from the Court of Appeal and the assessment of legal costs.

Court of appeal

Royal Charter of Justice of King George the 3rd, 1801, establishing Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court. The Court of
Appeal is the highest and ultimate record court. It’s headed by Court of Appeal’s president. The president appoints
judges to the Court of Appeal as recommended by the Constitutional Council. The Court’s jurisdiction is as
follows;

Appeals from the high court in the exercise of its appellate or original Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction to try election petitions in respect of the election of the members of parliament
Jurisdiction to grant and issue writs of certiorari prohibition, procedendo, mandamus, Quo warranto and
habeas corpus and to grant injunctions
Power of Investigating and inspecting the records of the courts of first instance

Provincial high court

The provincial high courts were established in accordance with the 13th amendment of the Constitution of 1978.
Judges are appointed by the Chief Justice to this court. The aim of the establishment of this court is to decentralise
the powers of the court of appeal to the provincial level. It gives the public the opportunity to present their appeals
at the provincial level. The powers of this court shall be as follows.

Commercial jurisdiction
Appellate and revisionary jurisdiction in respect of convictions, Sentences, orders entered or imposed by
District Courts, Magistrate’s Courts and Primary Courts within the province.
Writ jurisdiction in respect of powers exercised under any law or under any statutes made by the provincial
council.
Appeals from Labour Tribunals, Agrarian Tribunals and Small Claims courts.
Issuing writs of Habeas corpus in provincial councils.

High court

The High Court of Sri Lanka, established in accordance with the Constitution, has the power and authority to hear,
try and determine all prosecutions on charges of indictment. It has criminal and admiralty jurisdiction, as well as
jurisdiction over offences committed on board aircraft and within the territorial air space. The High Court is the
only court to exercise the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance. It exercises both civil
jurisdiction and criminal jurisdiction. The High Court of Commerce is empowered to hear commercial cases
transactions in excess of three million rupees and jurisdiction over cases covered by the Intellectual Property Act.
These powers are as follows;

Original Criminal Jurisdiction – Murder cases, Attempt to murder, Rapes, Treasons, Large scale plunders
Applications for the return of or access to an abducted child (exercised by the High Court of the Western
Province)
Admiralty Jurisdiction
An offence committed by a Sri Lankan abroad
Offences committed aboard aircraft and within the territorial air space
Jurisdiction to hear and determine an offence i.e. influencing or attempting to influence any decision or order
made by the Judicial Service Commission or influencing any member thereof

District court

District Courts have been established in 54 districts of Sri Lanka. These courts have all the civil jurisdictions that
are relevant to each district. The appointment and removal of district court judges shall be carried out by the
Commission of the Judicial Service. The cases heard by the District Courts shall be as follows;

Cases related to marriages. (divorce, marriage, asking compensations for sexual misconduct and divorce
allowances etc)

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11/19/2020 The Judicial System in Sri Lanka – Criminology.lk

Testamentary Cases – (cases related to the property of people, died without leaving a last will i.e. intestate estate
of deceased persons)
Guardianship of idiots and persons of unsound mind and guardianship of their property.
Cases related to guardianship and legality of the under aged children.
Demands for adoption of children.
Requests for changing the names in birth certificate.
Cases related to incomes.
Cases on trusts and bankruptcy.
Cases on payments, debts, damages demands for and financial cases.
Partition cases.
Cases on lands.
Cases on house rents.
Cases on compensation for accidents and insurance.
Cases filed under company act.

Magistrate court

Magistrate’s Courts are established for 74 judicial divisions in Sri Lanka. Every Magistrate’s Court is vested with
original criminal jurisdiction, and is ordinarily empowered to impose sentences up to a fine of Rs. 1,500 and/or 2
years rigorous or simple imprisonment. All Magistrates are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission.
Appeals from convictions, sentences or orders of Magistrate’s Courts within a Province lie to the High Court of the
Province.

The cases heard by the courts of the magistrate are as follows:

Offences on public security.
Offences related to army, air force and navy.
Offences related to government servants.
Offences related to elections.
Request for orders concerning protection from domestic violence.
Providing false evidence and offences against public justice.
Furthermore, this court can also work on offences mentioned in parliamentary Acts. Eg.- Forest Ordinance,
Excise Ordinance, Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Act, Food Act, Road Development Authority Act, as well as
Motor Traffic Act.

In addition to the judicial system referred to above, a number of other institutions and tribunals responsible for
the administration of judicial functions have been established by special acts of Parliament. Labor courts have
therefore been set up to settle labour disputes, while Quazi courts have been set up to resolve Muslim marriage
and divorce issues. More on the Rent Control Board has been set up to solve house rental problems. In addition,
the Conciliation Board was established to resolve disputes without going to court.

References

Vigashini. (2020, Nov. 16). Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court. Retrieved from
https://www.moj.gov.lk/web/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=173%E2%9F%A8=en
Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Archives | Sri Lanka News – Newsfirst. (2020, Nov. 16). Retrieved from
https://www.newsfirst.lk/tag/supreme-court-of-sri-lanka
Administrator. (2020, Nov. 17). History of Sri Lankan Courts. Retrieved from
http://courtofappeal.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=72
The Provincial High Court: Its Original Criminal, Civil, Appellate and Revisionary Jurisdiction. (2020, Nov. 17).
Retrieved from https://www.dailynews.lk/2019/11/20/features/203265/provincial-high-court-its-original-
criminal-civil-appellate-and
Icta. (2011, Jun. 16). Judicial Hierarchy. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.gov.lk/web/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=64%E2%9F%A8=en

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