DOCSLIB.ORG

Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider Amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider Amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO THE MUSLIM MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ACT VOL. I REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE WITH ALL ANNEXURES FOREWORD As the Chairman of the Committtee of Experts appointed by the then Minister of Justice and Law Reform, Hon Milinda Moragoda to suggest amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, No. 13 of 1951, it is my duty to thank the then Hon. Minister, as well as all those Hon. Ministres of Justice who succeded him, including the current Minister of Justice and Foreign Employment Hon.Thalatha Athukorale, for all the support provided to the Committee to complete its enormous and time-consuming task. The work involved was not easy, particularly in view of the sensitive and complex issues that arose for deliberation and the diversity of opinion held by the Muslim community in Sri Lanka and the members of this Committee, in regard to some of these issues. However, in view of the fact that these issues affect the very life of all men and women, who may be driven by matrimonial strife, to seek redress from the Quazi Court and its appellate bodies in order to resolve their disputes which also affected their families, their children and society at large, these issues had to be considered in great depth from both the shariah and pragmatic perspectives. This Report is the product of the commitment, concern and hard work of the members of this Committee, who had fully co-operated with me despite acute differences of opinion that arose, most of which have fortunately been resolved. Hence, it is my duty to thank all members of the Committee for their dedicated work and tolerance. Law reform is no easy task, and is undertaken to meet the challenges faced by society from time to time. The work of this Committee was no exception, and there is much more to be done for implementing the major reforms recommended in earnest by this Committee. I would therefore, on behalf of all members of the Committee, request the Hon. Minister to take all necessary action to have the recommendations of the Committee implemented as proposed in this Report. Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC Chairman of the Committee i TABLE OF CONTENTS I – Recommendations dated 20th December 2017 of Hon. Justice Saleem Marsoof PC (Chairman), Ms. Dilhara Amarasinghe (Secretary), Hon. Suhada Gamlath PC, Deshabandu Mrs. Jezima Ismail, Prof. Sharya Scharenguvel, Mrs. Faleela Be Jurangpathy, Mr. Razmara Abdeen, Ms. Safana Gul Begum and Mrs. Sharmeela Rasool. 1. Introduction 1 2. Historic Context of Muslim Matrimonial Law Reform 3 3. The Terms of Reference, the Procedures Adopted and the Issues Deliberated by the Committee 11 4. The Theoretical Basis for Law Reform and the Approach Adopted by the Committee 20 5. Summary of Recommendations 30 6. Detailed Recommendations 53 7. Schedule 1 156 8. Schedule 1 A 179 [ 9. Schedule 2 183 10. Schedule 3 187 11. Schedule 3A 189 12. Schedule 4 192 13. Schedule 5 194 Annexures A, B, B 1 to B13 to the said Recommendations. ii II – Recommendations dated 21st December 2017 of Mufti M.I.M. Rizwe, Ash-Sheikh M.M.A. Mubarak, Hon. Justice A.W.A Salam, Hon. Justice Mohammed Mackie, Mr. Shibly Aziz PC, Mr. Faisz Musthapha PC, Dr. M.A.M. Shukri, Mr. Nadvi Bahaudeen and Mrs. Fazlet Sahabdeen 1. Subsatantive Law 1 2. Reform of the Quazi 3 3. Polygamy 4 4. Registration of Marriage and the Requirement of a Wali 5 5. Age of Marriage 6 6. Mataa’ 7 7. Apprearance by Lawyers before Quazi Courts 7 8. Upgrading the Status and Standard of Quazis 7 Annexure iii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED IN 2009 TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS TO THE MUSLIM MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ACT In the Name of God, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful. 1. Introduction For the ease of reference, this Report is divided into six parts. Part 1 seeks to provide a general introduction and will deal with the appointment of this Committee, its membership and its secretariat. Part 2 will attempt to put the Report in context and outline the history of Muslim Matrimonial Law Reform in Sri Lanka. Part 3 will outline the terms of reference of the Committee, the procedures adopted for the deliberations of the Committee and the issues deliberated by it, and Part 4 will summarize the theoretical basis for law reform and the approach adopted by the Committee. Part 5 is a simplified summary of the recommendations of the Chairman and the members of the Committee and Part 6 consists of the detailed reasoning justifying the said recommendations. 1.1 The appointment of this Committee and its Secretariat 1.1.01 After the enactment of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No 13 of 19511(hereinafter also referred to as MM&D Act), two government appointed bodies2 and one civil society initiated committee3 had deliberated on the reform of the matrimonial law applicable to the Muslims of Sri Lanka and had made recommendations. The Chairman of this Committee had also made certain recommendations for the reform of the law in the concluding chapter of his book entitled The Quazi Court System in Sri Lanka and its Impact of Muslim Women.4 None of these recommendations have been implemented by the government, and the law is substantially in the same state as it stood at the time of its initial enactment in 1951. 1.1.02 This Committee was appointed by the former Minister of Justice and Law Reform Hon. Milinda Moragoda, with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, to consider and recommend amendments to the existing MM&D Act. The letters of appointment dated 30th July 2009 (a copy of which is annexed to this Report marked Annexure A) issued to each member of the Committee by 1Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951 as amended by Act No. 31 of 1954, Act No. 22 of 1955, Act No. 1 of 1965, Act No. 5 of 1965, Act No. 32 of 1969, Law No. 41 of 1975 and Act No. 24 of 2013. 2 The first of these was the Commission on Marriage and Divorce chaired by Mr. A.R.H. Canekeratne Q.C and the second was a Committee appointed in 1990 by the then Hon. Minister of State for Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs under the Chairmanship of Dr. A.M.M. Sahabdeen. 3 The civil society initiated Committee appointed in 1972 was chaired by Dr. H.M.Z Farouque, a former Registrar- General, who was also well known for his academic credentials. 4 Saleem Marsoof, The Quazi Court System in Sri Lanka and its Impact on Muslim Women (2001 edition), published by the Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum (MWRAF), Chapter VIII (Conclusions) pages 71 to 74, accessible at: https://www.academia.edu/30277198/The_Quazi_Court_System_in_Sri_Lanka_and_its_Impact_on_Muslim_Women 1 the Hon Minister of Justice stated that since a review of the Muslim personal law and the system of Quazi Courts require urgent revision, this Committee comprising of eminent persons in the field should consider and present reforms to this area of law. The Committee appointed by the Minister consisted of the following members:- 1. Hon. Justice Saleem Marsoof PC, former Judge of the Supreme Court (Chairman), 2. Hon. Justice A.W.A. Salam, former Judge of the Court of Appeal, 3. Hon. Suhada Gamalath PC., Solicitor General, former Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform, 4. Mr.Shibly Aziz, PC, former Attorney General and former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, 5. Mr.Faisz Musthapha, PC, former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, 6. Professor Sharya Scharenguivel, Professor of Law, University of Colombo, former Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights Studies, 7. Hon. Justice Mohammed Mackie, Judge of the Civil Appellate High Court and former Assistant Secretary to the Judicial Service Commission, 8. Mr.S.M.A. Jabbar, Chairman of the Board of Quazis, who passed away on 25th February 2012. Mr. Nadvi Bahaudeen, Attorney-at-law, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Quazis, took his place in the Committee. 9. Dr M.A.M. Shukri, Director, Jamiah Naleemiah, 10. Ash-Shiekh Mohaummad Magdoom Ahamed Mubarak, former President and current Secretary of Jamiyyathul Ulama, 11 Ash-Shiekh Mohammad Ibrahim Mohummad Rizwe Mufti, President of Jamiyyathul Ulama, 12. Deshabandu Mrs. Jezima Ismail, former Member of the National Committee on Women and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, 13 Mrs. Faleela Be Jurangpathy, Commissioner, Mediation Boards Commission, and former Principal of Muslim Ladies College, Colombo 4, 14. Razmara Abdeen, Attorney-at-Law, 15. Mrs. Safana Gul Begum, Attorney-at-Law, former Member of the Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum (MWRAF), 16. Mrs. Fazlet Shahabdeen, Attorney-at-Law, 17. Mrs. Sharmeela Rassool, Attorney-at-Law and National Project Coordinator, Access to Justice Project, UNDP, 18 Mr. A.H.G. Ameen, Attorney-at-law (who passed away on 26th November 2015), and 19. Mrs. Dilhara Amarasinghe, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform (Secretary). 2 1.1.03 The Ministry of Justice was represented in the Committee by Mr.Suhada Gamalath PC., Solicitor-General, who was the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform at the time this Committee was appointed and Mrs. Dilhara Amerasinghe, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform, who also functioned as the Secretary to the Committee. Mr. A.K.D.D. Arandara, who was then an Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform, was appointed as Joint Secretary to the Committee and did not attend the deliberations of the Committee but performed a coordinating role.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Imperative for Sri Lanka!
    ANMEEZAN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL COMPRISING SCHOLARLY AND STUDENT ARTICLES 53RD EDITION EDITED BY: Shabna Rafeek Shimlah Usuph Shafna Abul Hudha All rights reserved, The Law Students’ Muslim Majlis Sri Lanka Law College Cover Design: Arqam Muneer Copyrights All material in this publication is protected by copyright, subject to statutory exceptions. Any unauthorized of the Law Students’ Muslim Majlis, may invoke inter alia liability for infringement of copyright. Disclaimer All views expressed in this production are those of the respective author and do not represent the opinion of the Law Students’ Muslim Majlis or Sri Lanka Law College. Unless expressly stated, the views expressed are the author’s own and are not to be attributed to any instruction he or she may present. Submission of material for future publications The Law Students’ Muslim Majlis welcomes previously unpublished original articles or manuscripts for publication in future editions of the “Meezan”. However, publication of such material would be at the discretion of the Law Students’ Muslim Majlis, in whose opinion, such material must be worthy of publication. All such submissions should be in duplicate accompanied with a compact disk and contact details of the contributor. All communication could be made via the address given below. Citation of Material contained herein Citation of this publication may be made due regard to its protection by copyright, in the following fashion: 2019, issue 53rd Meezan, LSMM Review, Responses and Criticisms The Law Students’ Muslim Majlis welcome any reviews, responses and criticisms of the content published in this issue. The President, The Law Students’ Muslim Majlis Sri Lanka Law College, 244, Hulftsdorp Street, Colombo 12 Tel - 011 2323759 (Local) - 0094112323749 (International) Email - [email protected] EVENT DETAILS The Launch of the 53rd Edition of the Annual Law Journal -MEEZAN- Chief Guest Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnicity and Violence in Sri Lanka: an Ethnohistorical Narrative 36
    Ethnicity and Violence in Sri Lanka: An Ethnohistorical Narrative 36 Premakumara de Silva, Farzana Haniffa, and Rohan Bastin Contents Introduction ...................................................................................... 634 Historical Emergence of Ethnic Identities ...................................................... 635 Ethnicization of the Sri Lankan State and the Emergence of the Ethnic War: Colonial Impact .................................................................................. 636 The “Ethnic Riot” as a Political Instrument of Majoritarianism ............................ 639 The Ethnic Riot in Contemporary Sri Lankan History ..................................... 640 Postwar Violence: Ethnicity and Violence in Sri Lanka Today ................................ 650 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 652 References ....................................................................................... 653 Abstract The ethnicity and violence in Sri Lanka have many root causes and consequences that are closely interconnected. Given the nature and the complexity of root causes and consequences of these highly contested concepts, it should not be treated as a part of linear historical processes where one event led to another. Sri Lanka presents case of how intersecting not only ethnicity and violence but also religion, caste, class, linguistic, and cultural mosaics have been and might be billeted within the borders of a nation-state. However, state building
    [Show full text]
  • The Failure of Jennings' Constitutional Experiment In
    ! 3 The Failure of Jennings’ Constitutional Experiment in Ceylon: How ‘Procedural Entrenchment’ led to Constitutional Revolution g Asanga Welikala ! ! Introduction When the United Front (UF)1 won a landslide victory of over a two-thirds majority in Parliament in the general election of May 1970, 2 the stage was set for radical constitutional changes that would signify the end of an era and the beginning of another, or to put it more dramatically: the death of Ceylon and the birth of Sri Lanka. In its election manifesto, the UF had sought a mandate to repeal and replace the constitution under which independence had been granted (known as the Soulbury Constitution) with a republican constitution. The manifesto also indicated that such a sovereign and independent constitution would be drafted and enacted by a Constituent Assembly separate from Parliament, signifying an exercise of popular sovereignty, effecting a complete break with the colonial past. The UF manifesto sought a mandate for these constitutional changes in the following terms: “We seek your mandate to permit the Members of Parliament you elect to function simultaneously as a Constituent Assembly to draft, adopt, and operate a new Constitution. This Constitution will declare Ceylon to be a free, sovereign and independent Republic pledged to realise the objectives of a socialist democracy; and it will also secure fundamental rights and freedoms to all citizens.”3 1 A coalition comprising chiefly of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and the two main Marxist parties, the Lanka Samasamaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party of Ceylon (Moscow Wing). 2 The UF won 115 of the 151 elected parliamentary seats of the last Parliament under the Soulbury Constitution at the general election of 27th May 1970.
    [Show full text]
  • World Bank Document
    Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Lf) C~~~~~~~~~~~~r ~~~ ~ r a W 0 R L D B A N K C OM PA RAT I VE MA C RO E C ON OM IC STUD IES Macroeconomic Policies,Crises, andGrowth in SriLanka, 1969-90 Macroeconomic Policies,Crises, andGrowth in SriLanka, 1969-90 P RE M A CHAND RA ATHUK O R A LA S I S I RA J AYA S U R I YA THE WORLD BANK, WASHINGTON,D.C. © 1994 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing August 1994 The World Bank Comparative Macroeconomic Studies series emerges from a research project that reviewed the macroeconomic experiences of eighteen developing countries over a period roughly from 1965 to 1990. So that the studies might be published with relatively little delay, the books have been edited outside the World Bank's Office of the Publisher by the Macroeconomic Research Department. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to the members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The material in this publication is copyrighted. Requests for permission to reproduce portions of it should be sent to the Office of the Publisher at the address shown in the copyright notice above. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally give permission promptly and, when the reproduction is for noncommercial purposes, without asking a fee.
    [Show full text]
  • Only Until the Rice Is Cooked (PDF)
    Chulani Kodikara is a Research Associate at ICES. Related Publication: An Exploratory Mapping of Domestic Violence Intervention Services in Sri Lanka: 2009-2011, Chulani Kodikara with Thiagi Piyadasa, 2012 Printed by Karunaratne & Sons (Pvt) Ltd. ICES Working Paper Series: 1 Only Until the Rice is Cooked? The Domestic Violence Act, Familial Ideology and Cultural Narratives in Sri Lanka Chulani Kodikara International Center for Ethnic Studies May 2012 © 2012 International Centre for Ethnic Studies 2, Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 8 Sri Lanka E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://ices.lk/ ISBN: 978-955-580-125-6 Printed with VOC free, non toxic vegetable oil-based environmentally-friendly ink, on PEFC certified paper from well-managed forests and other controlled sources. Printed by Karunaratne & Sons (Pvt) Ltd. (www.karusons.com). ii Acknowledgements This paper greatly benefited from conversations with Prof. Savitri Goonesekere, Kumudini Samuel, and Dhara Wijyayatilake, particularly on the history of the PDVA. Prof Savitri Goonesekere also gave incisive comments on a draft of this paper, which helped refine it. I am extremely grateful to Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe for her careful review of a near-final version of this paper. I would like to thank Siddharthan Maunaguru, Vijay Nagaraj, Sumith Leelarathne and Shyamala Sivagurunathan for comments on different versions of this paper, and Harindrini Corea and Thiagi Piyadasa for research assistance. My thanks also to the staff at ICES and particularly Mr. Thambiraja for his assistance in finding research material. Yasmin Tambiah’s work on legal amendments impacting gender and sexuality and the discourses surrounding these processes in Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago, was the original inspiration for this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Protecting the Rights of the Tsunami Victims: the Sri Lanka Experience
    Protecting the Rights of the Tsunami Victims: The Sri Lanka Experience Nirekha De Silva Introduction The study on ‘Protecting the Post-Tsunami Displaced Persons: Critical Analysis of the Sri Lankan Experience’ is an analysis of the ways in which Sri Lanka has attempted to protect the victims of the Tsunami during the relief, rehabilitation and the reconciliation phases. The study is inclusive of an analysis of the human rights instruments, mechanisms established or mandates to protect IDPs, applicability of the human rights instruments and mechanisms established in the post-tsunami context in Sri Lanka and the human rights issues faced by the IDPs. The main objective of the study is to identify policy recommendations for the government and the civil society to react in a more efficient manner in a future disaster situation. The essay begins with an overview of the post-tsunami situation in Sri Lanka followed by an analysis of the international and national human rights instruments applied and the mechanisms established or mandated to protect the rights of post-tsunami displaced persons in Sri Lanka; and finally attempts to identify human rights gaps experienced by the post- tsunami displaced persons and the reasons for these gaps. Overview The study is divided into four sections. The first section presents an introduction to the post-tsunami situation in Sri Lanka. It compromises an analysis of the districts affected, number of deaths and displaced person, involvement of the government and civil society and the programmes introduced to protect the IDPs. The aim of this section is to contextualize the study.
    [Show full text]
  • UNEQUAL CITIZENS Study
    Fall 08 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE STUDY 2 Methodology 3 Limitations 3 LEGISLATIVE OVERVIEW OF THE MUSLIM MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ACT (MMDA) 5 Administration of MMDA 6 ISSUES FACED BY WOMEN AND GIRLS UNDER THE MMDA 7 1. Lack of minimum age of marriage 7 2. Lack of autonomy and decision making for Muslim brides 10 3. Kaikuli/Kaikooli (Dowry) 12 4. Unequal provisions for divorce 14 5. Polygamy 17 6. Maintenance 19 7. Quazis 22 Legal exclusions under other national laws 29 AN OVERVIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY INTERVENTIONS 31 THE STRUGGLE FOR REFORMS 37 BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES TO REFORM 38 RECOMMENDATIONS AND KEY CONCLUSIONS 53 ANNEXE: STRATEGIC ACTION POINTS 58 1 ABOUT THE STUDY As Muslim women working in the area of human rights and addressing gender-based violence, the primary motivation of the study is derived from the harsh realities experienced by the thousands of Muslim women in Sri Lanka. In our respective lines of work, we came across a number of instances of harrowing experiences of women under the purview of Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) of 1951 and Quazi court system that was set up to administer it. There are innumerable cases due to the law itself, the manner in which the law is implemented and the culture that the law has allowed to flourish. We were moved by the distressing and confounding stories of affected women who share our faith, and their long struggles for justice and equality, that we were motivated to design and undertake a study that would further the understanding of the complexities within the Muslim community with regard to MMDA and reforms.
    [Show full text]
  • List of Contributors
    List of Contributors Lucian C. Arulpragasam was born in (then) Ceylon. He graduated from the University of Ceylon in 1948 in Economics and Political Science and was appointed Assistant Lecturer in Political Science at the same University. He joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1951, where he worked for ten years in the fields of agrarian reform and agricultural policy/planning for the agriculture sector. In 1962, he joined the FAO where, as Regional Officer for Asia/Far East resident in the region, and later as Chief Economist for Asia/Far East at FAO Headquarters (Rome), he was able to visit and work in every country in Asia for a period of over 20 years, observing also their political developments. Later, as Chief of the Agrarian Reform Service he also covered other countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. After his retirement from FAO, he worked as a consultant for many UN agencies and authored many of their publications. Although living abroad, he has visited Sri Lanka at least once or twice each year over the past 50 years, which has enabled him to keep in touch with the economic and political developments in his own country. Mr Arulpragasam now lives in retirement in the Philippines. Radhika Coomaraswamy was Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict 2006-2012. Before that she was the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on Violence Against Women 1994-2003. In Sri Lanka she was a Director of the International Center for Ethnic Studies 1982-2006 and Chairperson of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission 2003-2006.
    [Show full text]
  • Political and Economic Policy Priorities in Supporting Post Conflict Peace and Development in Sri Lanka
    Political and Economic Policy Priorities in Supporting Post Conflict Peace and Development in Sri Lanka Deshal de Mel and Shakya Lahiru Pathmalal December 2009 Draft: Not for Citation The ideas expressed in the paper represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions of any institutions to which they may be affiliated. 1 Part I: Power Sharing in Sri Lanka Introduction Sri Lanka is an island nation of 65,000 square kilo meters on the southern tip of India. In 1948 Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, obtained independence from Britain, ending 443 years of colonial influence and later rule under various European powers. Sri Lanka has a population of 20 Million people, 74% of whom are the majority Sinhalese (descendents of North Indians), 12.6% are Sri Lankan Tamils (descendents of South Indians), 7.1% Muslim, 5.5% Indian Tamils (who were brought to Sri Lanka by the British to work on the tea plantations in the hill country) and 0.8% other races (Malay, Burgher and so on)1. Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP is US$ 2014, but economic activity is heavily concentrated in the Western Province which accounts for 48.4% of GDP. The country has been in engulfed in a civil war between 1983 and May 2009 between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil militant force that was fighting for an independent Tamil state in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. On the 18th of May 2009, the LTTE leader and almost the entire leadership was killed in a final push by the Sri Lankan forces and resulted in the end of the war.
    [Show full text]
  • Sri Lanka's Civil
    Thomas Meaney reviews ‘Rescued from the Nation’ by Steven Kemper, ‘Tamil’ by... https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n03/thomas-meaney/ten-bullets-to-one-twenty-to-another This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.× (More Information) Back to article page Ten Bullets to One, Twenty to Another Thomas Meaney Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World by Steven Kemper Chicago, 480 pp, £31.50, January 2015, ISBN 978 0 226 19907 8 Tamil: A Biography by David Shulman Harvard, 416 pp, £25.00, September 2016, ISBN 978 0 674 05992 4 The Seasons of Trouble: Life amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka’s Civil War by Rohini Mohan Verso, 368 pp, £16.99, October 2015, ISBN 978 1 78168 883 0 Independence was handed to Ceylon’s elite on a platter. ‘Think of Ceylon as a little bit of England,’ Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke, the first native governor-general, said. This was a point of pride. Don Stephen Senanayake, the country’s first prime minister, remarked: ‘There has been no rebellion in Ceylon, no non-cooperation movement and no fifth column. We were among the peoples who gave full collaboration while Britain was hard-pressed.’ After independence in 1948, Ceylon alone among the former colonies not only retained but promoted the monarchy: the Union Jack flew alongside the Ceylon flag; a new constitution was drafted by an LSE professor, Ivor Jennings; Colombo debutantes were presented at Buckingham Palace; and, thanks to some genealogical ingenuity, George VI was recognised as the latest monarch in the ancient line of Kandyan kings.
    [Show full text]
  • Republic at 40
    ! BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS H.A.P. Abeyawardana (1999) Boundary Divisions of Medieval Sri Lanka (Polgasovita, SL: Academy of Sri Lankan Culture) A. Abeysekara (2002) Colors of the Robe (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press) G. Agamben (1998) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Trans. D. Heller-Roazen) (Stanford: Stanford University Press) G. Agamben (2005) State of Exception (Trans. K. Attell) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) B. Agarwal (1994) A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) A.C.L.A. Ali (2001) Plural Identities and Political Choices of the Muslim Community (Colombo: Marga Institute) T.R.S. Allen (1993) Law, Liberty and Justice: The Legal Foundations of British Constitutionalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press) A.C. Alles (1976) Insurgency, 1971: An Account of the April Insurrection in Sri Lanka (Colombo: Colombo Apothecaries Co.) A.C. Alles (1979) The Assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (Colombo) A.C. Alles (1990) The JVP: 1969-1989 (Colombo: Lake House) ! 1040 ! All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (1951) Buddhism and the State: Resolutions and Memorandum of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (Maradana: Oriental Press) M. Allison (2009) Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in Ethno-national Conflict (London: Routledge) K.J. Alter (2001) Establishing the Supremacy of European Law: The Making of an International Rule of Law in Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Y.R. Amarasinghe (2000) Revolutionary Idealism and Parliamentary Politics: A Study of Trotskyism in Sri Lanka (Colombo: Social Scientists Association) C. Amaratunga (Ed.) (1989) Ideas for Constitutional Reform (Colombo: Council for Liberal Democracy) C.F.
    [Show full text]
  • Sri Lanka, Country Information
    Sri Lanka, Country Information SRI LANKA ASSESSMENT April 2003 Country Information and Policy Unit I SCOPE OF DOCUMENT II GEOGRAPHY III ECONOMY IV HISTORY V STATE STRUCTURES VIA HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES VIB HUMAN RIGHTS - SPECIFIC GROUPS VIC HUMAN RIGHTS - OTHER ISSUES ANNEX A: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS ANNEX B: POLITCIAL ORGANISATIONS ANNEX C: PROMINENT PEOPLE REFERENCES TO SOURCE MATERIAL 1. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, from information obtained from a wide variety of recognised sources. The document does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. 1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum/human rights determination process. The information it contains is not exhaustive. It concentrates on the issues most commonly raised in asylum/human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. 1.3 The assessment is sourced throughout. It is intended to be used by caseworkers as a signpost to the source material, which has been made available to them. The vast majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. These sources have been checked for currency, and as far as can be ascertained, remained relevant and up to date at the time the document was issued. 1.4 It is intended to revise the assessment on a six-monthly basis while the country remains within the top 35 asylum-seeker producing countries in the United Kingdom. 2. GEOGRAPHY 2.1 The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, lies in the Indian Ocean, south of India.
    [Show full text]