Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution · As enacted
7. Replacement of Article 35 of the Constitution
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
Article 35 of the Constitution is hereby repealed and the following Article is substituted therefor:-
35. (1) While any person holds office as
President of the Republic of Sri Lanka, no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against the President in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by the
President, either in his official or private capacity:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be read and construed as restricting the right of any person to make an application under Article 126 against the Attorney-General, in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by the President, in his official capacity:
Provided further that the Supreme Court shall have no jurisdiction to pronounce upon the exercise of the powers of the President under Article 33(2)(g).
Where provision is made by law limiting the time within which proceedings of any description may be instituted against any person, a period of time during which such
“President to be responsible to
Parliament.
“Immunity of President from suit.
person holds the office of President of the
Republic of Sri Lanka shall not be taken into account in calculating any period of time prescribed by that law.
The immunity conferred by the provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply to proceedings in the Supreme Court under paragraph (2) of Article 129 and to proceedings under Article 130 (a) relating to the election of the President or the validity of a referendum.”.