{"id":120870,"date":"2021-12-03T18:04:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T01:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120870"},"modified":"2021-12-03T18:04:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T01:04:40","slug":"one-country-one-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/03\/one-country-one-law\/","title":{"rendered":"One Country One Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"One<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last week the writer\napproached a local studio to get some photographs to get his passport renewed.\nDuring the conversation with the photographer, he advised the writer about the\nlegal requirements of the Immigration office, which require both ears to be\nvisible in the photograph to renew his passport. He also informed the writer\nthat Muslim women, need not bother about exposing their ears in the photograph\nbecause Muslim women are allowed to wear the Hijab<\/em><\/strong> covering their\nhead and chest, including their ears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The friendly conversation\nsuddenly touched on a serious note. The disgruntled photographer advised the\nwriter about a mixture of laws in Sri Lanka, and how it applies to each section\nof the community. He said  because of the Election promises,  the\nGovernment is getting  into an awkward situation due to failure of\nadhering to such promises. He observed that the legal framework of Sri Lanka is\ncomplex and a mixture of laws ranging from Roman, English, Dutch, South\nIndian, and Old Ceylon Law<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Momentarily the writer\nbecame thoroughly confused with such a lot of laws in Sri Lanka. To get it\nclarified, the writer communicated with his friend in London, Douglas\nWickramaratne, who is well versed in Sri Lankan politics.  Douglas\nWickramaratne( I received a sad news about Douglas\nWickramaratne died on 01-12-2021<\/em><\/strong>) dealt with a lot of\nproblems when Sri Lanka experienced a gruelling time with a separatist war for\nthirty years against the LTTE. Douglas acted on behalf of the Sri Lanka High\nCommission in London to counter all adverse exposures by the LTTE. Such false\npropaganda spread internationally instantaneously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka Mission had\nto obtain permission from the Foreign Ministry before commenting on any sudden\nsituation, such as a bomb explosion. When a response reached the Sri Lanka High\nCommission from the Foreign Ministry in Colombo, the stable door was closed,\nand the horse had already bolted. Douglas Wickramaratne was a patriot and\nrepresented the Sinhala Association in the U.K. He bravely faced the LTTE supporters\non all T.V. and radio debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Wickramaratne\nreplied, attaching an email in Sinhala. The following is a translation done by\nthe writer, to the best of his ability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

” The President of Sri Lanka appointed a Commission\nto investigate and report on the concept of One Nation and One Country. The\nProfessor\nNalin de Silva believes it is essential\nto appoint Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thera as Chairman of the\nPresidential Commission. He cannot remember whether he has had any conversation\nwith the thera, but he has heard about his speeches. However, the Professor may\nnot agree with the Venerable\u2019s ideology altogether, and disagrees with the Venerable’s associations with some personnel.\nHowever, \u2018The Professor believes that a Buddhist monk is the best solution\nfor the Presidential Commission. In this respect Ven. Gnanasara thera is the\nmost suitable official<\/em>\u201d he states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people may object to\nthe monk’s appointment as Chairman of the Presidential Commission on a delicate\ntopic stating that the monk was penalised by Court<\/em>“. The Professor\ncannot recollect the incident properly, and thinks it was due to the monk’s\nappalling behaviour inside the Courthouse. The Professor too has some\nexperience in dealing with Courts in Sri Lanka, from the Labour Courts up to\nthe Magistrate’s Courts. He is not aware how the Sri Lankan Courts operate.\nHowever, the Professor believes that everyone must pay respect inside Courts.\nThe Sri Lankan Courts follow vital decisions made in accordance with the\nConstitution that affects the Nation. To negate the Courts’ decisions is highly\nthorny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The professor Nalin de Silva believes, \u2018if his memory serves right,\nvenerable Gnanasara thera expressed certain statements to Ekneligoda’s wife\ninside the courts complex that was not acceptable to the Court.<\/em>\u2019 It should\nbe questioned from Ekneligoda’s wife whether she became popular only after the\ndisappearance of Ekneligoda? The Professor admits that he cannot comment on the\nnumber of issues made by Sri Lankan Courts. He will not expand on that issue\nfurther because he too will likely become a victim by criticising Court\nprocedures!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka follows a mixture\nof British, Roman, and Dutch laws<\/em>, Professor states. That is not\nfavourable to Sri Lanka. It is also not to say the existing laws are partisan.\nIt comes to his memory also about the ancient Ekneligoda Nilame, <\/em><\/strong>who\nfought against the Sinhala Motion (Panatha)<\/em><\/strong>. The Professor can\nremember only one other Committee member, named Sumeda Weerawardene. Although\nhe was not a lawyer, he was knowledgeable about the legal profession. ‘Romans\ndid not invent Roman law<\/em>\u2019<\/em>, he states. Even before\nthe Dutch conquered our land, Ceylon had a profession called  Sirith\nLena<\/em><\/strong>. Currently, it is equivalent to the legal profession. The basis of\nany law is dependent on the culture and tradition of a nation,” declares\nthe Professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dutch <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dutch when in Ceylon\namended many laws, in addition to the Roman and Dutch law. They introduced\ntobacco to Ceylon and brought the Tamil Vellala community to cultivate tobacco.\nAfter the harvest, the Vellala community returned to their homeland in India.\nThe Dutch did not prevent them from returning. At that time, there existed a\nMuslim (Thesawalimi<\/em>) law in Jaffna. The Muslim Thesawalimi law\nincorporates Kovils too. The Vellas established the Thesawalimi law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, the British\nintroduced the Thesawalimi law again and incorporated Roman and Dutch law into\nBritish law. In addition, there exists a separate Muslim law in the country.\nThere is also a law called the Upcountry (Kandy – Udarata<\/em>) law. The\nBritish called the Upcountry (Udarata<\/em>) law as the Sinhala law. During\nthat time, the Kings ruled the hill country.  The British, naming it as\nthe upcountry law, made a muddle out of it. Nevertheless, we need to bear in\nmind the Sinhala law includes various sections from the Nanayakkara kings.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Professor believes\neminent scientists in the West believe in the explosion theory, but it is only\na belief.  Any law depends on the country’s culture and tradition, but Sri\nLanka goes by British law, Roman and Dutch law.  There is no such law\nin existence without a national, religious, and cultural basis<\/em>. The world\ndoes not have any adverse laws\u2014British science wraps around Greek Christian\nphilosophy, which is a blatant lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018One country one law\u2019<\/em> means not to execute a mixture of English, Roman and Dutch<\/em> law\non everything and everywhere. In England, there is no law about the Chinese\npopulation. English culture encases British law. In Sri Lanka, what is required\nis a law commensurate with different cultures. Insincere socialists will cry\nout, saying an individual law applies to various sets of people. The Professor\nchallenges anyone to go to France and try to implement the Muslim law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this juncture, there is\nan important feature we need to remind ourselves about. \u2018The Agreement entered in 1815 promised the British and Dutch to rule\nthe country according to the Sinhala Law<\/em>. Though it was agreed with the\nChristian rulers, everyone failed to adhere\nto this agreement. Though Sri Lanka achieved its Independence seventy-three\nyears ago, no one has yet concentrated on the 1815 Agreement. One cannot expect\nthis from either the Senanayake’s, J.R. Jayawardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa or\nRanil Wickremesinghe<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President appointed a\nknowledgeable Buddhist monk as Chairman of the Presidential Committee to\ninvestigate and report to him on all aspects that affect the society in\nimplementing the concept of \u2018One Law, One Country\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

tilakfernando@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Last week the writer approached a local studio to get some photographs to get his passport renewed. During the conversation with the photographer, he advised the writer about the legal requirements of the Immigration office, which require both ears to be visible in the photograph to renew his passport. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-drtilak-s-fernando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}