SRI LANKA Law and Practice Contributed by: Ayanthi Abeyawickrama, Varners
1. Legal System 1.1 Legal System and Judicial Order Legal System Sri Lanka’s legal system is a hybrid one, draw - ing from multiple legal traditions including Roman-Dutch law, English common law, statu - tory law and customary laws (such as Kandyan, Tesawalamai and Muslim personal laws). This pluralistic structure is a result of the country’s colonial history and its diverse cultural and eth - nic make-up. While Roman-Dutch law remains the founda - tion of the common law (especially in private law matters), English common law principles influence areas such as commercial law, crimi - nal procedure, evidence, administrative law and constitutional interpretation. In addition to writ - ten laws, Sri Lanka recognises the doctrine of judicial precedent, whereby decisions of the Supreme Court, as the highest court of the land, are binding on all lower courts. Decisions of the Court of Appeal are also binding on subordinate courts, though not on the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal itself. Judicial Order Sri Lanka’s court system is hierarchical and con - stitutionally established, with specialised juris - dictions allocated across various tiers of courts. The Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Democratic Social - ist Republic of Sri Lanka is the apex court, and exercises:
• original jurisdiction in respect of fundamental rights under the Constitution. The Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal has both appellate jurisdic - tion and writ jurisdiction, hearing appeals from the High Court of the Republic, and entertaining applications for writs such as certiorari, man - damus, prohibition, quo warranto and habeas corpus under the Constitution. Provincial High Courts Each High Court of the Provinces exercises appellate and revisionary jurisdiction over all courts and tribunals within its respective prov - ince, and is vested with writ jurisdiction in terms of Article 154P of the Constitution. In addi - tion, the High Court of the Western Province in Colombo has special original jurisdiction in: • commercial matters within the Western Province, where the value in dispute exceeds LKR50 million; • applications under the Companies Act, No 07 of 2007 (including winding-up, derivative actions, etc); • matters arising under the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Act, No 19 of 2021; and • all proceedings under the Intellectual Property Act, No 36 of 2003, including infringement actions and cancellation of registrations. The High Court The High Court of the Republic is vested with original criminal jurisdiction to try serious offences committed within Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, including acts of piracy, marine pollu - tion, illegal fishing, and unlawful acts against maritime navigation. It also exercises admiralty jurisdiction under the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, No 40 of 1983, enabling it to adjudicate maritime
• constitutional jurisdiction; • final appellate jurisdiction; • writ jurisdiction in limited matters; • supervisory jurisdiction; and
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