Senate of Ceylon

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Senate
Dominion of Ceylon
Type
Type
History
Established1947
Disbanded2 October 1971
Preceded byState Council of Ceylon
Succeeded byNone
Seats30
Meeting place
The old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort that used to house the Senate. Today it is known as the Republic Building and houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Politics of Sri Lanka
Coat of arms of Sri Lanka, showing a lion holding a sword in its right forepaw surrounded by a ring made from blue lotus petals which is placed on top of a grain vase sprouting rice grains to encircle it. A Dharmacakra is on the top while a sun and moon are at the bottom on each side of the vase.
Constitution
Government
Executive

Legislature

Judiciary

Elections
Administrative geography
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The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort and met for the first time on 12 November 1947. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971 by the eighth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution, prior to the adoption of the new Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka on 22 May 1972. In 2010 there were proposals to reintroduce the Senate.[1]

History

Creation

With the recommendations of the

House of Representatives. This was intended to act as a stopgap barrier to prevent the government in power trying to rush through important legislations without giving adequate time to consider such legislations.[2]

Abolition

The

Soulbury Constitution.[3]
The Senate was abolished in 1971 after nearly 24 years of existence. A unicameral parliamentary system was introduced with the adaptation of the Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka in 1972.

Role

The Senate was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinizing and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. The model for the Senate's role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.

All parliamentary bills other than money (finance) bills could originate in the Senate.[4] The Senate could not reject or amend or delay beyond one month a money bill.[4] If any other bill that had been passed twice by the House of Representatives was rejected by the Senate twice it was deemed to have been passed by both chambers.[4]

Membership

The Senate consisted of 30 members. 15 members were elected by the lower chamber, the

Prime Minister and generally consisted of distinguished individuals.[4]
The senators were known as "Elected Senators" and "Appointed Senators" respectively.

The minimum age for membership of the Senate was 35, and members of the House of Representatives were not allowed to be members of the Senate. At least two government ministers had to be senators.[4] No more than two senators could be parliamentary secretaries (deputy ministers).[4]

The normal term of office of a senator was six years.[4] One third of the Senate (five elected and five appointed) retired every two years.[4] Retiring senators were eligible for re-election or re-appointment. If a senator resigned, died or was otherwise removed from office, their replacement, elected or appointed, would serve the remainder of their term of office.[4]

Officers

As the tradition of the House of Lords, the Senate did not elect its own speaker. Instead, the presiding officer was the president, who was appointed by the Governor General. The president was by the deputy president and chairman of committees, who served as the presiding officer in the absence of the president.

The clerk of the Senate was in charge of all its administrative duties, but was not a member. The clerk, who was appointed by the Crown, advised the presiding officer on the rules of the House, signed orders and official communications, endorsed bills, and was the keeper of the official records of both Houses of Parliament.

The gentleman usher was also an officer of the Senate. The title derived from the gentleman usher of the Black Rod of the House of Lords and was responsible for ceremonial arrangements, upon the order of the House, took action to end disorders or disturbances in the Senate chamber.

List of senators

Main article: List of senators of Ceylon

List of presidents of the Senate

Main article: President of the Senate of Ceylon

See also

References

  • "CEYLON (CONSTITUTION) ORDER IN COUNCIL". LawNet, Government of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-07-16.
  • "CEYLON (CONSTITUTION AND INDEPENDENCE) AMENDMENT". LawNet, Government of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11.
  • "The Senate Days of Ceylon" (PDF). The Island, Sri Lanka. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  1. ^ "Upper House in Sri Lanka - a new move to devolve powers". Asian Tribune. 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Wickramanayake, Prabath. "Sri Lankan Senate". Analyst Journal. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 22: 'Only God Can Save the Tamils'". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2002-04-16.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 11: On the threshold of freedom". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2001-11-08.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links

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