Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka)

Last updated

Constitutional Council
Emblem of Sri Lanka.svg
Reports to President of Sri Lanka
Appointer President of Sri Lanka
Term length 3 years, One term limit
Constituting instrument 17th & 19th Amendment
Precursor Parliamentary Council
Formation2000, 2015

The Constitutional Council (CC) is a 10-member constitutional authority in Sri Lanka tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring its affairs. The Constitutional Council is aimed at depoliticizing the public service.

Contents

History

The Constitutional Council was first established in 2000 under the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. In 2010 President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Parliamentary Council, under the Eighteenth Amendment, to replace it. After Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the new reforms to reinstate a new Constitutional Council in 2015 under the Nineteenth Amendment.

The independent commissions were established under the Constitutional Council, fulfilling one of the major promises of the United National Party led Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena during the 2015 presidential election. [1]

Membership

Composition

The composition of the Constitutional Council consists of ten members, of whom three are ex officio members while the rest are appointed. As per Chapter VIIA, Article 41, of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, members of the council consists of the following: [2] [3]

Qualification

It is the duty of the speaker, as chairman, to ensure that nominations for appointments to the Constitutional Council's appointed seats (the non ex officio members) are made, whenever an occasion for such nominations arise. Members nominated under sub paragraphs d, e or f "shall be persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party". All appointments made by the President shall be communicated to the Speaker.

Members can vacate the office by resigning in the form of writing addressed to the President or can be removed from office by the President when both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have formed the opinion that such member is "physically or mentally incapacitated and is unable to function further in office or is convicted by a court of law for any offence involving moral turpitude or if a resolution for the imposition of civic disability upon him or her has been passed in terms of Article 81 of the Constitution or is deemed to have vacated his or her office under paragraph (7) of Article 41E". The President shall within two weeks, of there being a vacancy of any of the appointed members, appoint another person to succeed that member. The newly appointed member shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term of his/her predecessor. [3]

Term

The Speaker shall continue to hold office as a member of the Council for as long as they continue to occupy the office. The members occupying the seats held by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition shall continue to hold office as members of the Council for as long as they continue to occupy the office, or until such time after a General Election following such dissolution of parliament. All appointed members shall hold office for a term of three years from the date of appointment. Appointed members are not eligible for reappointment. However members shall continue to hold office on the council until a successor assumes the seat of the vacating member. [3]

Members

2015-2018

The President and Prime Minister appointed their nominees, Minister Champika Ranawaka (President's nomination), Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (Prime Minister's nomination) and Vijitha Herath (Parliament's nomination), have been appointed to the council on 9 September 2015. [4]

Appointed members A. T. Ariyaratne, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Shibly Aziz were nominated to the council on 10 September 2015 and were approved by parliament on 22 September 2015. [5] [6]

2018-2021

Appointed members Naganathan Sellvakumaran, Jayantha Dhanapala, and Javed Yusuf was nominated to the council on 19 October 2018.

2020

Jayantha Dhanapala resigned from the council in 2020, after 2020 General election Karu Jayasuriya was replaced by the new speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane as the 2nd chairman. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa were elected by their position as Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Mahindananda Aluthgamage was named as the Presidents nomination. In 2020 20th amendment was passed dissolving the council.

2022

In October 2022 Parliament pass the 21st amendment establishing the council back.


Seat No.MemberSeatJoined CouncilLeft Council/
End of term		PartyNotes
1 Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Speaker 20 August 2020Incumbent Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Chairman
2 Dinesh Gunawardena Prime Minister 22 July 2022Incumbent Mahajana Eksath Peramuna [7]
3 Sajith Premadasa Leader of the Opposition 5 December 2019Incumbent Samagi Jana Balawegaya [8]
4 Nimal Siripala De Silava President's nomination29 November 2022IncumbentSri Lanka Freedom Party
5 Vacant Parliament's nomination
6 Sagala Kariyawasam Prime Minister's nomination29 November 2022Incumbent Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
7 Kabir Hashim Opposition Leader's nomination15 November 2022Incumbent Samagi Jana Balawegaya [9]
8 Dr. Pratap Ramanujam Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition05 January 2023Incumbent Independent
9 Dr. (Mrs) Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition05 January 2023Incumbent Independent
10 Dr. (Mrs) Weligama Vidana Arachchige Dinesha Samararatne Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition05 January 2023Incumbent Independent [10]
Former Members
Seat No.MemberSeatJoined CouncilLeft Council/
End of term		PartyNotes
4 Champika Ranawaka Prasident's nomination9 September 201517 September 2018 Jathika Hela Urumaya Term Ended. [11]
6 Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Prime's Minister's nomination9 September 201528 December 2017 United National Party Resigned. [12]
6 Tilak Marapana Prime's Minister's nomination29 December 201722 September 2018 United National Party Term Ended. [13]
7 John Seneviratne Opposition Leader's nomination22 September 201522 September 2018 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Term Ended. [13]
5 Vijitha Herath Parliament's nomination22 September 201522 September 2018 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Term Ended [13]
8 A. T. Ariyaratne Nominated by the Prime Minister22 September 201522 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. [13]
9 Radhika Coomaraswamy Nominated by the Prime Minister22 September 201522 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. [13]
10 Shibly Aziz Nominated by the Prime Minister22 September 201522 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. [13]
2 Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister 9 September 201526 October 2018 United National Party Removed from Prime Minister [14]
3 R. Sampanthan Leader of the Opposition 9 September 201518 December 2018 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Term Ended after leaving Office. [15]
2 Mahinda Rajapakse Prime Minister 18 December 201811 November 2018 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Suspended acting as Prime Minister and lost by a No confidence motion. [16] [17]
7 Chamal Rajapaksa Opposition Leader's nomination11 October 201810 January 2019 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Resign after Mahinda Rajapakse was apponined Opposition Leader
2 Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister 26 October 201822 December 2019 United National Party Resigned from post after elections. [18]
3 Mahinda Rajapakse Leader of the Opposition 18 December 201821 November 2019 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Appointed as Prime Minister [19]
8 Jayantha Dhanapala Nominated by the Prime Minister11 October 201814 May 2020 Independent }
1 Karu Jayasuriya Speaker 9 September 2015Incumbent United National Party Chairman
4 Mahinda Samarasinghe President's nomination17 September 201825 August 2020 Sri Lanka Freedom Party
2 Mahinda Rajapakse Prime Minister 18 November 202009 May 2022 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Resigned as Prime Minister [19]
4 Mahindananda Aluthgamage President's nomination18 November 202014 July 2022 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
7 Thalatha Athukolara Opposition Leader's nomination11 August 202114 November 2022 Samagi Jana Balawegaya
9 Ahamed Javid Yusuf Nominated by the Prime Minister11 October 201814 May 2020 Independent }
10 Naganathan Selvakkumaran Nominated by the Prime Minister11 October 201814 May 2020 Independent }

Staff

The Constitutional Council has the power to appoint officers it deems necessary for its functioning upon such terms and conditions as it may determine. [2]

Secretary General to the Constitutional Council

The Secretary General to the Constitutional Council is appointed, by the Constitutional Council, for a five-year renewable term. [2]

Functions

Commissions

The following independent commissions were established under the Constitutional Council:

Dr. Deepika Udagama was appointed as the new Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on 20 October 2015. Sri Lanka also appointed members to Public Service Commission and the Police Commission on the same day. [21] Dharmasena Dissanayake has been appointed the Chairman of the Public Service Commission. [22] the Police Commission media unit said today. [23] Justice Titus Bodhipala Weerasuriya was appointed as the Chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. [24] The President gave approval for the most important independent election commission, former election Mahinda Deshappriya was elected the chairman. By 15, 9 November out of 10 commissions were established with the promise given to the people from the Maithripala Sirisena and United National Party election manifestos in 2015 elections. [25]

Political nominations

Constitutional Council is responsible of giving their recommendations for high ranking posts of government institutions such as: [2]

The first such recommendation was to apportionment Gamini Wijesinghe for the post of Auditor General in November 2015. On 10 February 2016, Constitutional Council has recommended the Senior Solicitor General and President's Counsel Jayantha Jayasuriya for the post of Attorney General. [26]

Making history in Sri Lanka the Constitutional Council met on 18 April 2016 to make a recommendation for the post of Inspector General of Police. It was the first time in Sri Lanka a Constitutional Council with members represented by many political parties were collectively selected an IGP. Senior DIG Pujih Jayasundara was selected by 5 to 2 vote for the post. [27]

Procedure

Nominations

The Constitutional Council give recommendations as to who is to be appointed by the President for the high level political offices stated above. The council nominates and gives consents to one candidate to be appointed to office from the one or more candidates proposed to the council by the President. Candidates are endorsed after debate and a secret ballot, they may or may not appear before the council. [28] Once a final decision has been made the council will inform its decision to the President in writing. [29]

Duties & powers

The council shall submit to the President a report of its activities every three months. It has the power to make rules relating to the performance and discharge of its duties and function. All such rules shall be published in the Gazette and be placed before Parliament. [3]

"Subject to the provisions of Article 126, no court shall have the power or jurisdiction to entertain, hear or decide or call in question, on any ground whatsoever, or in any manner whatsoever, any decision of the Council or any approval or recommendation made by the Council, which decision, approval or recommendation shall be final and conclusive for all purposes." [3]

Meetings

The Constitutional Council shall meet as frequently as possible when necessary for the performance of its functions, in addition to meeting at least twice a month. A quorum for the meeting of the Constitutional Council is five members. The Speaker shall take the chair of the Constitutional Council, however in his/her absence, the Prime Minister will take over, and in the absence of both the Leader of the Opposition shall take the chair. The Secretary General convenes all meetings of the Constitutional Council, upon the directions of the Chairman. [2]

2015

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranil Wickremesinghe</span> President of Sri Lanka since 2022

Ranil Sriyan Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who is the 9th and current president of Sri Lanka. He also holds several ministerial positions, including the Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahinda Rajapaksa</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015

Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.

The United People's Freedom Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United National Front (Sri Lanka)</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The United National Front (UNF) later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) was a political alliance in Sri Lanka led by the United National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajitha Senaratne</span> Sri Lankan dentist, politician

Nambukara Helambage Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne is a Sri Lankan dentist, politician, member of parliament and former cabinet minister. He is currently a member of parliament representing Kalutara district

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sajith Premadasa</span> Sri Lankan politician

Sajith Premadasa, MP is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the current Leader of the Opposition of Sri Lanka and Member of Parliament for Colombo District. He is the current leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maithripala Sirisena</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2015 to 2019

Maithripala Yapa Sirisena is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh President of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He is currently a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa.

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 Council that was established under the 17th Amendment. After Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the new reforms to reinstate a new Constitutional Council in 2015 under the Nineteenth Amendment.

The Rajapaksa family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Sri Lankan presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule. The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office. The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the presidency of Maithripala Sirisena</span>

The following is a timeline of the Presidency of Maithripala Sirisena from his first announcement as presidential candidate in November 2014 to the present.

Hirunika Eranjali Premachandra Yattowita better known as Hirunika Premachandra is a member of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. She is a former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament from the United National Party and a former member of the Western Provincial Council. Born to Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, Hirunika was educated at Visakha Vidyalaya.

The 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka with its membership determined by the results of the 2015 parliamentary election, held on 17 August 2015. The parliament met for the first time on 1 September 2015 and was dissolved on 3 March 2020. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the maximum legislative term of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.

Justice Hettikankanange Nalin Jayalath Perera is a Sri Lanka judge who served as the 46th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis</span>

A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal, and he refused to resign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election</span> 2020 parliamentary election in Sri Lanka

Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Sri Lankan presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019. The incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena's term of office would have ended on 9 January 2020. This was the first presidential election in Sri Lanka where no sitting president, prime minister or opposition leader ran for president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide victory, defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa.

In 2015 a coup d'état was allegedly attempted in Sri Lanka by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in order to remain in power after he had been voted out in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election. Rajapaksa, who was expected to easily win a third term in office lost to Maithripala Sirisena, a former ally and member of the Rajapaksa administration. Though ultimately there was a peaceful transition between governments, some government officials claim Rajapaksa made an attempt to deploy the army and police to stop the counting of votes when initial results showed he was heading for defeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16th Parliament of Sri Lanka</span>

The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka is the current Parliament of Sri Lanka, with the membership determined by the results of the 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka the maximum legislative term of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom People's Alliance</span> Political alliance in Sri Lanka

The Freedom People's Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded in 2023 to contest in the upcoming local elections. The alliance consists of 12 political parties, including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SFLP), the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya and the Freedom People's Congress.

References

  1. ↑ "Full Text Of Maithripala Sirisena's Election Manifesto". www.asianmirror.lk.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Iddawala, Neil. "The who, what and how of our Constitutional Council". Sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution" (PDF). yourconstitution.lk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Ariyaratne, Radhika, Aziz nominated to CC". adaderana.lk. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Civil Representatives nominated to Constitutional Council". News.lk. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Parliament approves Representatives to Civil Constitutional Council". News.lk. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dinesh Gunawardena appointed Sri Lanka's Prime Minister; 18-member Cabinet swears in". 22 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Sajith Premadasa appointed as the opposition leader". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 5 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "SJB MP Kabir Hashim nominated for Constitutional Council". 15 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "New members to be appointed to several independent commissions".
  11. ↑ "President appoints Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe to the Constitutional Council". www.lankanewsweb.net.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ "Wijeyadasa resigns from CC". www.dailymirror.lk.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka\'s Constitutional Council\'s term ends". www.colombopage.com.
  14. ↑ "Ranil Wickremesinghe removed; Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oaths as New Prime Minister At Presidential Secretariat". 26 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Opposition Leader". www.lankanewsweb.net.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. ↑ "Rajapakse loses no confidence motion in Sri Lanka". 14 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Mahinda Rajapaksa Cannot Take Actions As Sri Lanka PM, Says Court". NDTV.com.
  18. ↑ "Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe resigns". The Hindu. 20 November 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
  19. 1 2 Srinivasan, Meera (21 November 2019). "Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn in as Sri Lanka Prime Minister". The Hindu– via www.thehindu.com.
  20. https://www.newsradio.lk/justin/dr-jayantha-dhanapala-resigns-from-cc/ [ dead link ]
  21. ↑ "Sri Lanka appoints new Human Rights Commission". Adaderana.lk. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "Dharmasena Dissanayake appointed Chairman of PSC". Adaderana.lk. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "Siri Hettige appointed Chairman of Police Commission". Adaderana.lk. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "Justice Titus Bodhipala Appointed Bribery Commission Chairman". www.asianmirror.lk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "Mahinda Deshapriya Appointed Elections Commission Chairman". asianmirror.lk. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  26. ↑ "Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka\'s new Attorney General takes oaths". www.colombopage.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  27. ↑ "Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara nominated for IGP post". Adaderana.lk. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "Sri Lanka's Constitutional Council split over new IGP". economynext. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  29. ↑ "The Constitutional Council picked P. S. B. Pujith Jayasundara as the 34th Inspector General of Police (IGP)". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 "Sri Lanka's Constitutional Council holds its first meeting". ColomboPage. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  31. ↑ "Constitutional Council To Meet Today". asianmirror.lk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.