Sri Lanka

History: Under British control from 1815 until independence in 1948 Name changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka (“Sacred Land”) in Population: 21 Million Administrative capitol is Kotte. Commercial capitol is Colombo. Civil War since mid 1980s between government and Tamil Tigers. Ethnically and Religiously Diverse. ◦ 70% of the country is Buddhist ◦ The Sinhalese are the ethnic majority in Sri Lanka, ◦ Tamils are the largest ethnic minority (16%).

Government: Unitary State. Dual Presidential / Parliamentary system. President is the head of state, head of government, and Commander in Chief. ◦ Elected by popular vote. Parliament is Unicameral with 225 members. PM serves at President’s deputy.

Legal System: Based on a combination of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Kandyan, and Jaffna Tamil law.

Court Structure Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court District Courts Magistrate’s Courts Primary Courts

Provisional Courts ◦ Civil cases with awards lower than 1,500 rupees ◦ Enforces local bye-laws. ◦ Appeals go to Provisional High Courts. Magistrate’s Courts ◦ Low level civil and criminal cases. ◦ Can fine up to 1,500 rupees and give prison time of up to 2 years. ◦ Appeals go to Provisional High Courts District Courts ◦ Civil cases. ◦ Appeals go to Court of Appeals. High Court of Sri Lanka ◦ Serious criminal cases Court of Appeals of Sri Lanka ◦ Writ of habeas corpus.

Judicial Effectiveness Justice is very slow in Sri Lanka. Many criminal cases take longer than 5 years to complete, and some civil cases take up to 20 years. Chief Justice ◦ Judiciary is becoming a joke. ◦ Vigilantism. Court of Appeals backlog. ◦ 8-10 years.

Supreme Court

17 th Amendment. Justices appointed by President after getting permission from Constitutional Council. Justice Mandatory Retirement Age: 65 Justices can only be removed if President has support from majority of Parliament.

Supreme Court Original Jurisdiction ◦ Constitutional Issues ◦ Fundamental Rights Judicial Review Final Appellate Jurisdiction Consultative Jurisdiction

Judicial Independence Constitutionally Guaranteed Reality: Executive power Witness intimidation Rulings ignored by government. Prevention Against Terrorism Act (1979) ◦ Coerced confessions ◦ No jury trials.

Judicial Independence Recent indictment of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga (10/8/08) for corrupt deal while in office was first time executive had ever been confronted in this manner by the Judicial Branch

Human Rights: Numerous human rights violations. Civil War used as justification for disappearances, torture, and murder. Tamil ethnic group tends to be targeted. U.S. Dept. of State Human Rights Report 2007: ◦ Armed attacks against civilians, kidnapping. ◦ few arrests and no prosecutions as a result of these abuses. ◦ “Government security forces used the broad 2005 emergency regulations to detain civilians arbitrarily, including journalists and members of civil society.”