Taking Back Sovereignty Lost
By Ranil Wickremesinghe -June 15, 2013 |
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Sri Lanka´s first Constitution, introduced in 1947 when it was called Ceylon, came in two parts; the Ceylon Independence Act of 1947 and the Orders in Council of 1946 and 1947 – known collectively as the Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council of 1947. All, read together, became known as the Soulbury Constitution, under which Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, gained independence from Britain, in 1948.
While the Constitution gained its name from the man who chaired a commission appointed to draft the Independence Act, H.A.J. Hulugalle, who was the Editor of the Ceylon Daily News at that time, described how the Soulbury constitution is based almost entirely on a draft prepared in 1944 by Hon. D.S. Senanayake and his board of ministers, who were in turn advised by Sir Ivor Jennings.[i]
