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Government, Judiciary and Economy in Sri Lanka

Government

1.       The 1978 Constitution changed the country's formal name from the Republic of Sri Lanka to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and established a presidential form of government. The most important national office is that of the president, who is defined in the Constitution as head of state, chief executive and commander in chief of the armed forces. Although governmental institutions are divided in the customary way between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches the president's powers as chief executive are formidable compared to those of the legislature. Legislative powers are exercised by the parliament which has 225 Members, elected by the people. Executive powers including the defence are vested with the Executive President, who is also elected by the public. The prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers and Members of the Parliament function under the President.

2.       His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakshe democratically elected president of the country and the present Prime Minister is Hon DM Jayarthna.

3.       Local Government - Sri Lanka is a unitary rather than federal state, local government institutions have had a very limited role in the political process. The country traditionally has been divided into nine provinces and twenty-four administrative districts which had played an important administrative role.

Judiciary

4.       The legal system is functioning with Supreme Court, High Court and magistrate Court under the Roman Dutch Law. Maximum penalty is death, but not exercised since 1977. Under the Constitution, the highest court is the Supreme Court, headed by a chief justice and between six and ten associate justices. Supreme and High Court justices are appointed by the president. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review, it can determine whether an act of Parliament is consistent with the principles of the Constitution and whether a referendum must be taken on a proposal. It is also the final court of appeal for all criminal or civil cases.  Country divided into five judicial circuits, subdivided into districts with district courts and divisions with magistrates' courts. Lowest courts are conciliation boards with responsibility for minor criminal and civil cases.

Economy

5.       Economic policy since Independence is divided into two periods. During the first, which lasted from 1948 to 1977, government intervention was often seen as the solution to economic problems. The expansion of government participation in the economy was fairly steady, resulting in a tightly regulated system. This trend was especially marked during the period from 1970 to 1977, when the state came to dominate international trade and payments, the plantation, financial, and industrial manufacturing sectors.

6.       About half of Sri Lankan relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Paddy is cultivated on most parts of the island. Tea, Coconut and Rubber are main agricultural exports of the country. Sri Lanka is the world second largest tea producer and Sri Lanka Tea is considered as the world best tea. Sri Lanka is famous for gems and precious stones. With the introduction of the open market policy economy in 1977, Sri Lanka has come on a long way. With the introduction of Free Trade Zones ready made garments sports goods, rubber based products have become good foreign exchange earners. About 800,000 Sri Lankan works abroad and they send home about $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy. With an economy of $53.241 billion (2010 IMF estimate) ($104.124 billion PPP estimate), and a per capita GDP of about $5,300 (PPP), Sri Lanka has mostly had strong growth rates in recent years. And is far ahead of its other core south Asian peers such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan