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අධිකරණ අමාත්යාංශය நீதி அமைச்சு | |
Agency overview | |
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Jurisdiction | Government of Sri Lanka |
Headquarters | Superior Courts Complex, Colombo 12 6°56′07″N79°51′43″E / 6.935221°N 79.861824°E |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executive |
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Child agencies |
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Website | moj |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Sri Lanka |
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The Ministry of Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms [2] [a] is the cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for the implementation of policies, plans and programmes for the administration of the country's justice system, and thereby administers its courts and prisons. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is the incumbent Minister of Justice as of 20 May 2022. [3]
The post was established in 1947 under the Soulbury Constitution as one of two fixed ministerial portfolios, the other being the Ministry of Finance. The post took over several functions of the previous colonial post of Legal Secretary. The Soulbury Constitution mandated that the appointee to the post of Minister of Justice should be from the Senate of Ceylon. This provision was removed following the abolishion of the Senate in October 1971. Since 1947, it has been tradition to appoint a lawyer to the post, with a few exceptions.
The ministry does not have oversight of policing, which comes under the Ministry of Defence.
It also has the authority to appoint individuals to the positions of:
Sri Lanka Freedom Party United National Party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
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The 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was passed on 22 October 2020 by the 225-member Sri Lankan Parliament. 156 voted in favor, 65 voted against and four abstained from the vote.
The Legal Secretary of Ceylon, was an officer of state of the British Colonial Administration of Ceylon from 1931 to 1947, appointed from the Colonial Legal Service. The Legal Secretary one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers of the State Council of Ceylon, who serve as the legal advisor to the government; administration of justice; criminal prosecutions and civil proceeding on behalf of the crown; election to the State Council, drafting of legislature and the public trustee. The post was formed under recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission the post replaced the Attorney General as the chief legal advisor to the Governor, it was in turn replaced by the post of Minister of Justice in 1947 under the recommendations of the Soulbury Commission under the Ceylon Independence Act, 1947 and The Ceylon Orders in Council 1947.