Positive highlights of expert (majority) report
December 30th, 2006
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The expert panel report “A” is described in the media as the “Majority” report of the expert panel. Eleven out of Seventeen experts comprising six Sinhala, Four Tamil and One Muslim have signed the report. Efforts are underway by “intolerant” forces to make President Mahinda Rajapakse throw the report overboard. The report however has many positive features and the people of Sri Lanka have every right to examine the proposals before arriving at an informed decision.
The full text of the 37 page report has already been posted on this website. Some of the salient features of the report are given below briefly.
Let us look at some of the highlights in the report.
1. Sri Lanka will not be defined as unitary or federal..
2. Every one of the constituent peoples of Sri Lanka will have the right to internal self determination.
3. The Constitution will have a comprehensive Bill of Rights. Group rights will be recognized. Section 29(2) of the Soulbury Constitution will be included.
4. Powers will be devolved on Provinces which will be the units of devolution. There will be Provincial Legislatures and Provincial Governments.
5. Four options have been given with regard to the issue of the merger of the North and East to a single Province. One option is for a permanent merger with internally autonomous units for Muslim and Sinhala minorities. Another option is for a temporary merger with a referendum in the East at the end of 10 years.
6. The Tamils of Indian origin will have an internally autonomous Zonal Council within the Central Province and a Cultural Council recognised by the Constitution.
7. There will be 4 Lists of power distribution, namely, National, Provincial, Concurrent and Local Authorities. The subjects in the Concurrent List will be deemed to be Provincial subjects for the North-East while the other Provinces will be able to have them as concurrent at the outset and gradually make claims to convert them to provincial subjects.
8. Sri Lanka will have a President and two Vice Presidents, each belonging to a different community.
9. There will be a Senate with the Senators elected by the Provincial Legislatures. One of the Vice Presidents will be the Chairman of the Senate.
10. Sinhala and Tamil will have parity of status as the official languages of Sri Lanka. Sinhala, Tamil and English shall be the national languages of Sri Lanka. All three national languages could be the medium of instruction in schools and in universities.
11. The Provinces will have powers over state land.
12. The Provinces will have their own Police Forces.
13. The Provinces will have substantial fiscal powers, including the powers to have access to international finances.
14.. The public service will be restructured so as to make devolution of powers to be effective.
15. The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal will reflect the ethnic composition of the country in their compositions. The Court of Appeal will have Divisions in the Provinces. The North-East Provincial Government will have powers over lower courts in the Province.
16. There will be a Constitutional Court outside the judicial hierarchy. This Court will adjudicate on matters of interpretation of the Constitution, and the legality of laws before or after enactment. The Court will also adjudicate on executive actions of the President.
It would also be of relevance in knowing more about the seventeen experts who prepared the four reports. Thumbnail sketches about them are given below.The Report submitted by experts 1 to 11 is referred to as the Majority Report by Group “A”. The dissenting Report by experts 14 to 17 is referred to as the Minority Report by Group “B”. Experts 12 and 13 submitted short Riders adverting to the Reports by Groups “A” and “B”.
Members of the Experts Panel
1.Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan
* Was Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo in 1983.
* Daughter of the Late Dr.E.M.V.Naganathan, deputy leader of the Federal Party, and daughter-in-law of the Late S.J.V.Chelvanayakam, QC, leader of the Federal Party.
2.Dr. Shivaji Felix
* Consultant Constitutional Law Expert with a Doctorate on Federalism.
* Son of the Late J.A.R.Felix, former Commissioner General of Inland Revenue.
3.Deshamanya R.K.W.Gunasekera
* Legal luminary.
* Consultant to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on constitutional issues.
* Chancellor of the Peradeniya University.
4.Mr. Asoka Gunewardene
* Chairman of the Finance Commission.
* Was Secretary to several Ministries as an officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service.
5. Mr. Faisz Musthapha PC (President’s Counsel)
* Legal luminary
* Was former High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom.
6. Dr. Rohan Perera PC
* Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* Recently elected by the U.N. General Assembly to the International Law Commission
7.Mrs Therese Perera PC
* Legal Draughtsman of Sri Lanka.
* Wife of Dr. Rohan Perera.
8. Mr. N. Selvakumaran
* The Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo.
* Was a member of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission.
9.Dr.K.Vigneswaran
* Formerly of the Sri Lanka Engineering Service, was the Secretary to the Chief Minister of the North-East Province.
* Was a Member of Parliament, during presentation of Constitutional Bill of 2000.
* Was recently conferred Honorary Life Fellowship of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.
* General Secretary of the Akhila Ilankai Tamil United Front.
10. Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne PC
* Author of a book on Fundamental Rights in Sri Lanka.
* Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs.
* Played a key role in constitutional reforms from 1995, culminating in the Constitutional Bill of 2000.
* Member of the Central Committee of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
11. Mrs. Malkanthi S.Wickramasinghe
* Secretary to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs.
* Former Additional Legal Draughtsman.
* Daughter of the Late K.B.Ratnayake, Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament.
12.Deshamanya M.D.Dharmasiri Pieris
* Formerly of the Ceylon Civil Service, and Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
* Chairman of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, succeeding the Late Lakshman Kadirgamar.
13. Deshamanya K.H.J.Wijayadasa
* Formerly of the Ceylon Civil Service, and Secretary to Prime Minister Premadasa and subsequently Secretary to President Premadasa.
* After retirement from the public service, he joined the United National Party from which he has now resigned.
14.Mr. Gomin Dayasiri
* Senior Lawyer frequently consulted by President Rajapakse.
* Member of the Government delegation to Geneva for talks with the LTTE.
* Counsel in the court cases by the JVP seeking de-merger of the Eastern and Northern Provinces.
* Son of the Late N.Q.Dias, former Defence Secretary under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
15. Deshamanya H.L.de Silva PC
* Legal luminary
* Consultant to successive Sri Lankan Governments on constitutional matters.
* Member of Government’s team to Thimphu for talks with Tamil organisations and to Geneva for talks with the LTTE.
* Senior Counsel in the court cases of the JVP seeking de-merger of the Eastern and Northern Provinces
16. Mr. Manohara de Silva PC
* Renowned Lawyer and member of the Jathika Hela Urumaya.
17. Prof. Gerald H. Peiris
* Professor Emeritus in Geography of the University of Peradeniya.
* Author of several books and research papers.
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