SRI LANKA'S LAWS
Sixteenth Amendment to the 1978
Constitution
[Certified on 17th December, 1988]
An Act to Amend the Constitution of The Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Be it enacted by the Parliament of the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as
follows:-
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Sixteenth Amendment to the
Constitution.
1. Article 20 of the Constitution of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred
to as the Constitution ) is hereby amended as follows:-
(a) by the substitution, for the
words " or a member of a local authority", of the
words " or a member of a Provincial Council or a
local authority"; and
(b) by the substitution, for the words " or in such
local authority", of the words " or in such
Provincial Council or local authority".
2. Articles 22 and 23 of the
Constitution are hereby repealed and the following
Articles substituted therefor:-
22. (1) Sinhala and Tamil shall be
the languages of administration through out Sri Lanka
and Sinhala shall be the language of administration
and be used for the maintenance of public records and
the transaction of all business by public
institutions of all the provinces of Sri Lanka other
than the Northern and Eastern Provinces where Tamil
shall be used:
Provided that the President may, having regard to the
proportion which the Sinhala and Tamil linguistic
minority population in any unit comprising a division
of an Assistant Government Agent, bears to the total
population of that area, direct that both Sinhala and
Tamil or a language other than the language used as
the language of administration in the province in
which such area may be situate, be used as the
language of administration for such area.
(2) in any area where Sinhala in used as the language
of administration a person other than an official
acting in his official capacity, shall be
entitled-
(a) to receive communications from and to communicate
and transact business with, any official in his
official capacity, in either Tamil or English;
(b) if the law recognizes his right to inspect or to
obtain copies of or extracts from any official
register, record, publication or other document, to
obtain a copy of, or an extract from such register,
record, publication or other document, or a
translation thereof, as the case may be, in either
Tamil or English;
(c) where a document is executed by any official for
the purpose of being issued to him, to obtain such
document or a translation thereof, in either Tamil or
English.
(3) In any area where Tamil is used as the language
of administration, a person other than an official
acting in his official capacity, shall be entitled to
exercise the rights and to obtain the services,
referred to in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of
paragraph (2) of this Article, in Sinhala or
English.
(4) A Provincial Council or a local authority which
conducts its business in Sinhala shall be entitled to
receive communications from and to communicate and
transact business with, any official in his official
capacity, in Sinhala, and a Provincial Council or a
local authority which conducts its business in Tamil
shall be entitled to receive communications from and
to communicate and transact business with, any
official in his official capacity, in Tamil:
Provided, however, that a Provincial Council, local
authority, public institution or any official
receiving communications from or transacting business
with any other Provincial Council, local authority,
public institution or an official functioning in an
area in which a different language of administration
shall be entitled to receive communications from and
to communicate and transact business in English.
(5) A person shall be entitled to be examined through
the medium of either Sinhala or Tamil or a language
of his choice at any examination for the admission of
persons to the Public Service, Judicial Service,
Provincial Public Service, Local Government Service
or any public institution, subject to the condition
that he may be required to acquire a sufficient
knowledge of Tamil or Sinhala, as the case may be,
within a reasonable time after admission to such
service or public institution where such knowledge is
reasonably necessary for the discharge of his
duties:
Provided that a person may be required to have
sufficient knowledge of Sinhala or Tamil, as a
condition for admission to any such service or public
institution, where no function of the office or
employment for which he is recruited can be
discharged otherwise than with a sufficient knowledge
of such language.
(6) In this Article-
"official" means the President, any Minister, Deputy
Minister, Governor, Chief Minister or Minister of the
Board of Ministers of a Province, or any officer of a
public institution, local authority or Provincial
Council; and
"public institution" means a department or
institution of the Government, a public corporation
or statutory institution.
23. (1) All laws and subordinate legislation shall be
enacted or made and published in Sinhala and Tamil,
together with a translation thereof in English:
Provided that Parliament shall, at the stage of
enactment of any law determine which text shall
prevail in the event of any inconsistency between
texts;
Provided further that in respect of all other written
laws the text in which such written laws were enacted
or adopted or made, shall prevail in the event of any
inconsistency between such texts.
(2) All Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws,
regulations and notifications made or issued under
any written law other than by a Provincial Council or
a local authority, and the Gazette shall be published
in Sinhala and Tamil together with a translation
thereof in English.
(3) All Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws,
regulations and notifications made or issued under
any written law by any Provincial Council or a local
authority, and all documents, including circulars and
forms issued or used by such body or any public
institution shall be published in the language used
in the administration in the respective areas in
which they function, together with a translation
thereof in English.
(4) All laws and subordinate legislation in force
immediately prior to the commencement of the
Constitution, shall be published in the Gazette in
the Sinhala and Tamil languages as expeditiously as
possible.
3. Article 24 of the Constitution is
hereby amended as follows:-
(1) by the repeal of paragraph (1) of that Article, and
the substitution of the following paragraph therefor:-
"(1) Sinhala and Tamil shall be the
languages of the courts throughout Sri Lanka and
Sinhala shall be used as he language of the court
situated in all areas of Sri Lanka except those in
any area where Tamil is the language of
administration. The record and proceedings shall be
in the language of the court. In the event of an
appeal from any court records shall be also prepared
in the language of the court hearing the appeal, if
the language of such court is other than the language
used by the court from which the appeal is
preferred:
Provided that the Minister in Charge of the subject
of Justice may, with the concurrence of the Cabinet
of Ministers direct that the record of any court
shall also be maintained and the proceedings
conducted in a language other than the language of
the court";
(2) in paragraph (2) of that Article by
the substitution for the words "in either of the
National Languages", of the words "in either Sinhala or
Tamil":
(3) in paragraph (3) of that Article -
(a) by the substitution, for the
words "the appropriate National Language", of the
words "Sinhala or Tamil", and
(b) by the substitution, for the words either of "the
National Languages", of the words "such
language";
(4) in paragraph (4) of that Article by the
substitution for the words "the use of a language
other than a National Language", of the words "the
use of English".
4. The following Article is hereby
inserted immediately after Article 25, and shall have
effect as Article 25A of the Constitution:
25A. In the event of any
inconsistency between the provisions of any law and
the provisions of this Chapter, the provisions of
this Chapter shall prevail."
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