Siripala, Wickremasinghe And The Validity Of Parliament’s Interpretation Of The Constitution
Elmore Perera
Prior to the autochthonous Constitution of 1972, under Dominion Status granted in 1948 Parliament enjoyed a very limited supremacy. The Monarch of the UK was considered Sovereign. Parliament was vested with the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Island. Executive power vested in Her Majesty was exercised by the Governor General who was required to exercise such powers in accordance with Constitutional conventions of the UK. In effect Executive powers were exercised by the Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Parliament enjoyed a limited supremacy.
In 1972, the Republican Constitution provided that Sovereignty was in the people, is inalienable and shall be exercised through a National State Assembly. Established as the Supreme Instrument of State Power, the National State Assembly or Parliament was mandated to exercise:
(i) Its legislative power directly,
(ii) Executive power through the President and Cabinet of Ministers, and
(iii) Judicial power of the people through Courts and other institutions created by law except in the case of matters relating to its powers and privileges, wherein the National State Assembly may exercise such powers directly.
This Constitution also established a non-executive/ceremonial President as Head of State, Head of the Executive, Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces with the power to declare war and peace, providing clearly that he shall act always on the advice of the Prime Minister or the Cabinet Minister to whom the Prime Minister may have assigned such functions. The National State Assembly, in fact enjoyed “absolute Supremacy”.
On 20th October 1977, the 2nd Amendment to the 1972 Constitution effected the transition to the Presidential form of government and established the National State Assembly and the President as the Supreme instruments of State power, repealed the requirement that the President shall act on the advice of the Prime Minister or Minister and elevated the President to be the sole and untrammelled repository of Executive Power.
