Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution · As enacted
6. Replacement of Chapter VIIA 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
Chapter VIIA of the Constitution is hereby repealed and the following Chapter substituted therefor:-
“CHAPTER VII A
THE EXECUTIVE
THE PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL
41A. (1) The Chairmen and members of the
Commissions referred to in Schedule I to this
Article and the persons to be appointed to the offices referred to in Part I and Part II of Schedule
II to this Article shall be appointed to such
Commissions and such offices by the President.
In making such appointments, the President shall seek the observations of a Parliamentary Council
(hereinafter referred to as “the Council”), comprising–
the Prime Minister;
the Speaker;
the Leader of the Opposition;
President to make the appointments in respect of the
Commissions and offices referred to in the
Schedules.
a nominee of the Prime Minister, who shall be a Member of Parliament; and
a nominee of the Leader of the
Opposition, who shall be a Member of
Parliament:
Provided that, the persons appointed in terms of sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) above shall be nominated in such manner as would ensure that the nominees would belong to communities which are communities other than those to which the persons specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c)
above, belong.
SCHEDULE I
1. The Election Commission.
2. The Public Service Commission.
3. The National Police Commission.
4. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
5. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of
Bribery or Corruption.
6. The Finance Commission.
7. The Delimitation Commission.
SCHEDULE II
PART I
1. The Chief Justice and the Judges of the
Supreme Court.
2. The President and Judges of the Court of
Appeal.
3. The Members of the Judicial Service
Commission, other than the Chairman.
PART II
1. The Attorney-General.
2. The Auditor-General.
3. The Parliamentary Commissioner for
Administration (Ombudsman).
4. The Secretary-General of Parliament.
5. The Inspector-General of Police.
The Speaker shall require the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to make such nominations within one week of the date of the commencement of this Article, provided that if the
Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition fail to make such nominations, the Speaker shall proceed to nominate any Members of Parliament to be nominees for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (d)
and (e) of paragraph (1), taking into consideration the criteria specified in the proviso to paragraph (1)
of this Article.
If at the time the President seeks the observations of the Council under paragraph (1), the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have failed to nominate the persons who shall be their nominees in the Council, the Speaker shall nominate such Members of Parliament to be nominees for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (d)
and (e) of paragraph (1), taking into consideration the criteria specified in the proviso to paragraph (1)
of this Article.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 64 of the Constitution, the Speaker shall, for the purpose of this Article, continue as
Speaker on the dissolution of Parliament, until a
Member of Parliament is elected to be the Speaker under paragraph (1) of Article 64. The new Speaker shall thereupon be a member of the Council.
Notwithstanding the dissolution of
Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition shall for the purposes of this Article, continue as Leader of the Opposition, until such time after a General
Election following such dissolution, a Member of
Parliament is recognized as the Leader of the
Opposition in Parliament. The new Leader of the
Opposition shall thereupon be a member of the
Council.
Notwithstanding the dissolution of
Parliament, the nominees of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively who are
Members of Parliament shall continue as members until such time after a General Election following such dissolution, Members of Parliament are elected to Parliament. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition shall thereupon respectively nominate two new members of Parliament to be their nominees in terms of sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) of paragraph (1) of this Article.
The tenure of the Council constituted under this Article shall extend for such period as specified in paragraph (2) of Article 62 and such tenure shall not be affected by any prorogation of Parliament in terms of Article70:
Provided that, the persons appointed as nominees of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively, may during such tenure at the request of the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition, as the case may be, be removed by the President for the reasons assigned therefor or in the event of an incapacity of such nominee, the
President may require the Prime Minister or
Leader of the Opposition, as the case may be, to nominate taking into consideration the criteria specified in the proviso to paragraph (1), another
Member of Parliament to be his nominee in the
Council. In such an event, the Member of
Parliament nominated to fill the vacancy created by either removal or incapacity, as the case may be, shall continue as member of the Council only for the unexpired period of the tenure of the member for whose vacancy he was nominated.
(a) When the President seeks the observations of the Council under paragraph (1), he shall require the Council to convey through the Speaker the observations of the Council, on the persons proposed by him for such appointments, within a period of one week from the date of seeking such observations.
If the Council fails to communicate its observations to him within the period specified in sub-paragraph (a), the President shall forthwith proceed to make the aforesaid appointments.
Where the Leader of any recognized political party represented in Parliament desires to propose the name of any person for appointment as Chairman or member of a
Commission referred to in Schedule I to paragraph (1) of this Article, he may within a period of one week from the date of the President seeking such observations of the Council, forward to the Speaker the name of any person in relation thereto.The President may take such names into consideration when making such appointments.
No person appointed to be the Chairman or member of a Commission referred to in
Schedule I of this Article or any of the persons appointed to the offices referred to in Part I and
Part II of Schedule II of this Article shall be removed, otherwise than in the manner provided for in the Constitution or in any law enacted for such purpose. Where no such provision is made, such person shall be removed by the President.
(a) The Speaker shall be the Chairman of the
Council.
The procedure to be followed in obtaining the observations of the Council shall be as determined by the Speaker.
The Council shall perform and discharge such other duties and functions as may be imposed or assigned to the Council by the Constitution, or by any other written law.”.