The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a

Semi-presidential republic A semi-presidential republic, or dual executive republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliament ...

determined by the

Sri Lankan Constitution The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (, ) has been the constitution of the island nation of Sri Lanka since its original promulgation by the National State Assembly on 7 September 1978. it has been formally amended ...

. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and the administrative capital of

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (), also known as Jayapura or Kotte, is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo ...

Constitution

The Constitution of Sri Lanka has been the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the island nation of

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, ...

since its original promulgation by the

National State Assembly The National State Assembly (NSA) was the legislative body of Sri Lanka established in May 1972 under the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972, First Republican Constitution. The assembly was introduced by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Si ...

on 7 September 1978. It is Sri Lanka's second republican constitution and its third constitution since the country's independence (as Ceylon) in 1948, after the

Donoughmore Constitution The Donoughmore Constitution (; ), created by the Donoughmore Commission, served Sri Lanka (Ceylon) from 1931 to 1947 when it was replaced by the Soulbury Constitution. It was a significant development. First, it was the only constitution in the ...

, Soulbury Constitution, and Constitution of 1972. As of October 2020, it has been formally amended 21 times.

Executive branch

The President, directly elected for a five-year term, is

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The election occurs under the Sri Lankan form of the contingent vote. Responsible to Parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, the president may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court. The President appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers responsible to Parliament. The president's deputy is the

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

, who leads the ruling party in Parliament. The President can dissolve the cabinet and appoint a new one at any time.

Legislative branch

The

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

has 225 members, elected for a six-year term, 196 members elected in multi-seat

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

and 29 by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. The President may summon, suspend, or end a legislative session and dissolve Parliament any time after it has served for one year. Parliament reserves the power to make all laws. The primary modification is that the party that receives the largest number of valid votes in each constituency gains a unique "bonus seat" (''see'' Hickman, 1999). Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Judicial branch

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the country. It is set out in the constitution, which defines courts as independent institutions within the traditional framework of

checks and balances The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishabl ...

. The Sri Lankan courts are presided over by professional judges, judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

with the nomination of the

Parliamentary Council The Parliamentary Council was a constitutional authority in Sri Lanka established under the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Formally being constituted on January 1, 2011 as pe ...

, others by the Judicial Service Commission. Sri Lanka has a legal system which is an amalgam of English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, Roman-Dutch civil law and

Customary Law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...

Elections

Sri Lanka elects on the national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, and 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies through a proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of the total vote that the party obtains in the district.

List of Governments in Sri Lanka

*1st - United National Party - from 1947 to 1951 *2nd - United National Party - from 1951 to 1956

Notes

References

External links

;General
Government of Sri Lanka

The Official Website of the Data and Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat, Sri Lanka
;Law
Official site of the Judicial Service Commission Secretariat

Sri Lanka's Legal Information Network
;Executive Branch
Official site of the Presidency

Official site of the Presidential Secretariat
;Legislative Branch
Official site of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
;Judiciary
Official site of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

Official site of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka
;Others
Official Government News Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Government Of Sri Lanka Asian governments