The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka: A Comparative Analysis

The Twentieth Amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka seeks to centralize power, tries to limit the power of the parliament and the judiciary, and control the rule of law. Particularly, this amendment has focused on the reintroduction of the Parliamentary Council (PC). The PC members are also the members of parliament and a particular political party. The aim is to advise the president regarding the apex level appointments to the judiciary and key public institutions. Therefore, the President has absorbed the power to appoint Supreme Court Judges and High Court Judges at the discretion himself by the amendment. This opens up the possibility to impose a biased verdict and thereby injures the independence and autonomy of the judiciary. Therefore, it can be said that Sri Lanka cannot expect the “rule of law†in the near future. It has been described as incompatible with the principles of law and justice at the international level. According to the International Court of Justice and international standards norms of appointments to the Judiciary, Judges’ appointments should not be vested solely with the executive power. Sri Lanka is battling with its largest COVID-19 outbreak still today. At this time, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government rushed through quickly to amend the constitution. Ironically, the twentieth amendment has made the constitutional governance or rule of law of the country to move far away from constitutionalism. At the same time, people must appreciate the government for making some alterations to the constitution such as amendments over presidential immunity and for increasing the period within which the president can dissolve Parliament. The amendment also entails new provisions on increasing the number of the Supreme Court judges from 11 to 17 and the High Court judges from 12 to 20.