Official Languages

Article 18 of the Constitution provides that Sinhala shall be the official language of Sri Lanka. In article 19 provision was made that the National Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.
By the 13th Amendment certified on 14th November 1987, article 18 was amended by making Tamil also an official language and English the link language.

Unitary State

Article 2 of the Constitution provides that the Republic Of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State. Therefore all other governing bodies within the stste are subordinate to the Central Government.

Religion

According to article 9 of the Constitution "The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly  it shall be the duty of the state to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the right granted by Article 10 and 14(1) e.

13th Amendment to the Constitution

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution which was introduced in Parliament in October 1987 sought to introduce a system of devolution of power based on a system of Provincial Councils. The Amendment and the Provincial Councils Act No: 42 of 1987, constituted part of a comprehensive plan forged by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka, known as Indo-Sri Lanka Accord signed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R.Jayawardene in July 1987. This plan it was hoped, would help- resolve the ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, which had led to a civil war in the Country.

Following the Indo-Sri Lanka accord, the Sri Lankan Constitution was amended to establish Provincial Councils in every province. The Provincial Councils bill gave special significance to the North Eastern Province by recognizing the merger, subject to a Referendum to be held within a year, though it was never held.

The 13th Amendment contains three lists spelling out the subjects devolved to the PCs and the subjects retained by the Centre.

List 1: Provincial Councils List - Subjects devolved to the Provincial Councils
List 2: Reserved List - Subjects retained by the Centre
List 3: Concurrent List

Article 154 G (5) provides that Parliament may make  laws with respect to the subjects specified in the concurrent list after such consultation with all Provincial Councils as Parliament  may consider appropriate in the circumstances of each case.

Article 154 G (5) (b) provides that Provincial Councils may also make statutes on subjects in the Concurrent List after consultation with Parliament.

The power of the Central Government over the PCs can be seen in several provisions in the 13th Amendment.

Article 154 G (2) provides that Parliament can legislate on provincial subjects if such legislature is passed with two third majority.

Article 154 G (11) provides that Parliament can, with a simple majority, makes laws in respect of any matter set out in the Provincial Council list, if such law is necessary for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or even "any decision made at an international conference, association or other body".

Furthermore article 155(3A) provides that emergency regulations made under the Public Security Ordinance can override amend or suspend the operation of Provincial Council Statutes.
In the final analysis the provisions of the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Councils Act reveal therefore,

• That the Parliament at the Centre and the Provincial Councils are not ":Co-ordinate Sovereignties"
  
  
• That there is no clear cut division of Power between the Centre and the Provinces.
  
  
• That the power of the Provincial Council can be abolished by the Central Government acting unilaterally
  
  
• There is no subject over which a Provincial Council can claim to exercise exclusive competence or jurisdiction.

The 17th Amendment to the Constitution

The rationale of the Amendment was to strengthen the independence of the key the public institutions such as Public Service commission, the Police Commission, the Judiciary, the Elections Commission, the Bribery Commission and a number of other institutions  and thereby promote good governance.

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was amended by an inserting immediately after Article 41 of the Constitution, the new chapter VII A, which provided relevant provision for the creation of the  a new institution deriving authority from the Constitution by the name Constructional Council.
Article 41A of the Constitution as amended under the 17th Amendment provided that the   Constitutional Council  shall be composed  of the following

• The Prime Minister

• The Speaker
  
  
• The Leader of the opposition in the Parliament
  
  
• One person appointed by the President
  
  
• Five persons appointed by the President on the nomination of both the Prime Mister and the Leader of the opposition
  
  
• One person nominated upon the agreement by the majority of the members of Parliament belonging to political parties or independent groups other than the respective political parties or independent groups to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition belongs and appointed by the President.

 It was provided further provided that the Speaker shall be the Chairman of the Council and that
when nominating the five persons to the Council the Prime Minister and the Leader of the   Opposition was expected to consult the leaders of political parties and independent groups       and include three members to represent minority interests.
Persons to be appointed or nominated under sub-paragraphs (d) (e) and (f) of paragraph (1) of this article shall be persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public life and who are not members of any political party.

The Constitutional Council was required to recommend the appointment of members and chairpersons to the commissions specified on the schedule to Article 41B of the Amendment to the constitution.
They are,

1. The Elections Commission
2. The Public Service Commission
3. The National Police Commission
4. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
5. The Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption
6. The Finance Commission
7. The Delimitation Commission

Following provision was added to the Amendment to ensure that the appointments to the Commissions remain apolitical.

Article 41C clearly states no person shall be appointed by the President to any of the offices specified in the said Article (41C), unless such appointment has been approved by the Council upon the recommendation made to the Council by the President.
The offices specified in the schedule to Article 41C is as follows

Part I

1. The Chief Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court
2. The President and the Judges of the Court of Appeal
3. The Members of the Judicial Service Commission other than the Chairman

Part II

1. The Attorney General
2. The Auditor General
3. The Inspector General of Police
4. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration ( Ombudsman)
5. The Secretary General of Parliament

Following the approval of the Amendment the Constitutional Council was established and functioned smoothly for the duration of its tenure.
However the Constitutional Council the body responsible for making appointments to offices under Articles 41 B and 41 C is dysfunctional today because political parties have failed to arrive at a consensus in nominating members representing them in the Council.
Today after six years of passing the 17th Amendment the Constitutional Council has gone out of office and a new Council has not yet been appointed.