Personal Law in Sri Lanka: A Mix of English Common Law, Customary Laws and Roman-Dutch Civil Law

The legal system of Sri Lanka is a mix of English common law, customary laws and Roman-Dutch civil law. Personal laws like Kandyan Law, Thesawalamai Law and Muslim Law impact different communities in Sri Lanka. The Constitution of Sri Lanka ensures fundamental rights like freedom of speech, movement and occupation.

Personal Law

The legal system of Sri Lanka has been considerably impacted by colonial authorities and
powers that ruled the country over the years. At present, the personal laws which came into
effect within the country are inclusive of a mixture of English common law, customary laws as
well as Roman-Dutch civil law, for example, Muslim personal Law, Thesawalamai Law,
Kandyan’ Law and Roman-Dutch Law. Following this, the customary laws are applied to a range
of communities such as Muslims, Kandyan Sinhalese, and Jaffa Tamils correspondingly. In the
absence of the exception, the customer practices and laws of every community have altered on a
timely basis. Further, the personal laws which supervised the several sections of the community
include; Kandyan Law, Thesawalamai and Muslim Law. The Kandyan Law, being a personal
law, in regards to the Kandyan Sinhalese (Aquinas, 2009). Similarly, the Muslim Law acting as a
personal law is applicable to the Muslims all over as their personal law. In effect, the
Thesawalamai is a customary law which is personal as well as territorial in nature. However, the
earlier feature of this law marked itself by the aspect that it applies to each and every land
established in the Northern Province. The later functions, nevertheless, led to the Thesawalamai
applied to Tamils, as a personal law, having the inhabitancy present in the Northern Province. In
regards to this, a variety of tests are applicable to identify if or if not these personal laws impacts
those who claim to be supervised by the statutory Acts introduced by the constitution.
Individuals who are subjected to these given personal laws are supervised in other manner
presented by the Roman-Dutch Law that is Sri Lanka’s Common Law. The influence on the
Common Law System gained from the English Law possesses a higher impact on the Sri Lanka
Laws as compared to the Roman tradition and culture (Pettagan, 2012).
Roman-Dutch Law is applicable in Sri Lanks wherein the questioned issues are not regulated by
the indigenous as well as strategies law. Further, this law showcases itself in Sri Lanka as an
inborn legal tradition; it is aligned with various indigenous laws system and the English common
law, together forming a different legal culture, which is presently considered as mixed common
law system. On the other hand, the Kandyan Law is applicable to the ethnic Sinhalese able to
track the ancestry back to the Kandyan region at the time of the Kandyan rule in the core of Sri
Lanka. The monarchy of Kandyan did not exist when central Sri Lanka was taken over by
British in the year 1815. The Theswalamai Law is dependent on the early customs of Jaffna
Tamils in Sri Lanka; it is applicable to the inhabitants of Tamil of the Jaffna Peninsula within

Northern Sri Lanka. In addition, this particular customary, as well as personal law, is applicable
to different Jaffna Tamils who now does not exist in the Jaffna Peninsula. It is generally found as
a belief amid most in Sri Lanka, that the Thesawalamai is applicable merely to the Jaffna Tamils
living in the Jaffna peninsula.
The basic elements of a constitution which are the rule of law is considered as better antiquity
and the leading concepts that exist in constitutionalism. In a situation where constitutionalism
states that a rule of law prevalence, then the same shall also be interpreted in all of its virtue
(Nagananda , 2017). This concept can be traced to Aristotle; essentially it is suggested by the
concept that the community should be ruled by a single law and shall be imposed on that law
alone. This is stated as the same concept to that of constitutionalism that is a legitimate
government in accordance with the supreme law.
The fundamental rights are stated as the most significant aspects of the constitution of Sri Lanka.
The fundamental rights are enumerated under the Chapter III of the Constitution of the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1978, and the same is ensured by the constitution as
well. The fundamental rights covers and ensures the right to equality, freedom from torture,
freedom of thought, freedom from subjective arrest and punishment, freedom of movement,
speech and occupation (Singh, 2018).
Thus, it can be said that the constitution stays as per the order of the country’s supreme law and
the same is self-binding. Sri Lanka’s Constitution gives authority to the government and
restricting authority to the boundaries of the constitution.

REFERENCES
Aquinas V. T., 2009. Sri Lanka: Legal Research and Legal System (Online). Available from <
http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Sri_Lanka.html >.[Accessed on 13 October 2018]
Nagananda K., 2017. Sri Lanka: A Nation With A Derailed Rule Of Law (Online). Available
from https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sri-lanka-a-nation-with-a-derailed-rule-of-
law/>.[Accessed on 13 October 2018].
De Silva, S. R. P., 2012. The concept of constitutionalism (Online). Available from <
https://questbcis.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/constitutionalism-rule-of-law-and-fundamental-
rights-in-sri-lanka/>.[Accessed on 13 October 2018].
Singh, S.C., 2018. Reform of the Muslim Personal Law: Challenges and Possibilities. IUP Law
Review, 8(1).