The Ministry of Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms is the cabinet ministry of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...

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 Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, MP, PC (born 16 March 1959) is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the Minister of Justice from 2022 to 2024 and from 2015 to 2017. He was the prime minister's nominee for the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka. ...

is the incumbent Minister of Justice as of 20 May 2022.

History

The post was established in 1947 under the Soulbury Constitution as one of two fixed ministerial portfolios, the other being the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. The post took over several functions of the previous colonial post of

Legal Secretary A legal secretary is a particular category of worker within the legal profession. Background In the practice of law in the United States, a legal secretary is a person who works in the legal profession, typically assisting lawyers. Legal secretari ...

. The Soulbury Constitution mandated that the appointee to the post of Minister of Justice should be from the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the Parliament of Ceylon, parliament of Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It ...

. 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.

Roles and responsibility

The ministry does not have oversight of

policing The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizen ...

, which comes under the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Departments

* Department of the Attorney General *Department of the Legal Draftsman * Department of Public Trustee *Judicial and Reforms Unit * Mediation Boards Commission *Law Commission of Sri Lanka *Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka *Debt Conciliation Board *National Authority for The Protection of Victims of Crimes and Witnesses * Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court * Office of the Secretary of Labour Tribunals *Sri Lanka Judge’s Institute *

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

* Superior Courts Complex Board of Management *Training Schools for Youthful Offenders

Appointments

It also has the authority to appoint individuals to the positions of: * Justice of the Peace * Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Magistrate *

Commissioner for Oaths A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

* Sudden Death Inquirers * Sworn Translator

List of ministers

;Parties

Notes

References

External links

Government of Sri Lanka

Ministry of Justice
{{authority control

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Law of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Sri Lanka, Justice