1.       Publication in Gazette

A Bill must be published in the Gazette at least seven days before it is placed on the Order Paper of Parliament. This is for the purpose of publicizing it. Considering that law affects everybody the public should be aware of the laws which the government is expecting to pass, so that they can put forward their views and suggest changes to any undesirable aspects of the proposed law. If anyone wishes to challenge the Bill as being inconsistent with the Constitution, he or she must go before the Supreme Court within one week of the Bill being placed on the Order Paper, to have the matter determined. It is felt that a period of one week gives insufficient opportunity to interested persons to challenge proposed legislation.

2.      First Reading

The Bill is first presented to Parliament after due notice usually by a Minister or Deputy Minister by its long title being read by the Secretary-General. The Bill is than considered as read for the first time and to have been ordered to be printed. At this point there is no debate about the Bill.

3. Second Reading

A bill which has been read for the first time, shall stand for Second Reading. There will be at this stage a discussion of the general principles of the Bill. The Second Reading occurs after a week has passed from the date of the First Reading.

4. Committee Stage 

When a Bill is read for a second time, it must be referred to a Committee of whole Parliament whilst some Bills, if Parliament so decides, will be referred either to a Select Committee or to a Standing Committee. According to Standing Orders no further action could be taken regarding such a Bill until the Committee has reported on it. The Committee stage is the process of law-making. At this stage the principles behind the Bill cannot be discussed; the Committee has to restrict itself to examining the different clauses of the Bill. The Committee may make amendments, or delete or add new clauses to Bill. The Committee may admit members of the public to present their views and also obtain the assistance of experts in matters which are complex or technical. This is an important safeguard in a democratic system of government as it gives the public an opportunity to participate in the making of legislation. Outsiders cannot however be present when the Committee is deliberating.

5. Report Stage 

According to Standing Orders, when a Committee of the whole Parliament has completed the consideration of a Bill, the Chairman shall report the Bill with or without amendment to Parliament. A standing Committee or a Select Committee to which a Bill has been referred shall present a report to Parliament with any further amend them. At this stage Parliament can only look at changes (amendments, deletions, additions), if any, made by the Committee, it cannot reconsider any other aspects of the Bill. Parliament can also refer back to the Committee for reconsideration particular changes made by the Committee.

6. Third Reading

This is the final stage of the Bill. A bill having passed through Committee Stage and Report Stage is read a third time and passed. If any Member of Parliament wishes to make any verbal or drafting amendments to the Bill he or she may move to do so after giving notice.

7. Certificate of Speaker 

When a Bill has been passed by Parliament, the Speakers has to endorse on the Bill a certificate stating that it has been duly grammatical or typographical errors in the Bill. The Bill becomes law when the certificate of the Speakers is endorsed on it. Certain Bills can only becomes law after approval of the public at a Referendum. In the case of such a Bill the certificate of the Speakers must state that the Bill shall not becomes law until such a Bill the certificate of the order to become law finally requires a certificate endorsed by the President stating that it has been approved by the people at the Referendum.

Legislation refers to the laws passed by Parliament. Each year Parliament passes a large number of laws of varying importance. 77 statutes were enacted in 2009; 50 in 2007; and 39 in 2005. Some of the Acts passed by Parliament do not deal with entirely new subjects but amend previous legislation.

Before a stature is passed and becomes law it is called a Bill. There are two main types of Bills, Public and private. Bills are limited in application and are for the benefit of particular individuals or bodies such as local authorities.

There are also Private Members’ Bills. There are Bills introduced by a Member of Parliament privately, as opposed to being introduced by the government. These could be either public or private depending on their subject matter. Unless the government adopts a Private Member’s Bill it is unlikely to get through the various stages necessary to be passed into law.

 After looking at the way in which Parliament passes an ordinary Bill, we will consider these special types of Bills. Bolls which seek to amend or repeal the Constitution, or which are inconsistent with the Constitution, are also a special category.

The Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament lay down the procedure to be complied with in the passing of a Bill into law.

A few countries have what are termed mixed systems of law in that they contain elements of both these categories. The Sri Lankan system of law falls into this third “mixed” category. The reasons for this are historical.

When the Dutch conquered Sri Lanka in 1656 they brought with them their laws, which were derived from the Roman law. Hence the name “Roman-Dutch” law, since after its arrival in the Netherlands the Roman law mingled with the Dutch legal system in so far as it was then in existence.

The Roman-Dutch law introduced by the Dutch however did not spread throughout the country. The Kandyan Provinces remained unconquered by the Dutch and the legal system in those areas continued to be, as before, the Sinhalese or what is now termed the Kandyan law. The laws peculiar to different ethnic groups also continued, such as those of the Muslims and of the Tamils of Jaffna. It is now believed that the Dutch law may have been applied only to a limited group of persons, i.e. to the Dutch settlers, to the locals who either served them or had converted to Christianity, and to the Sinhalese and Tamils who lived inside the forts.

Thereafter the British arrival in 1796 and Entire Island passed into British hands by 1815. According to British law when a colony is ceded (handed over by the previous rules to the British, as in the case of Sri Lanka) the laws of the colony as they were, continue to be in force, until later changed. The British assumed that Roman-Dutch law was the general system in the country and enacted that the Roman-Dutch law shall “continue”, along with the customary laws of the Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalese. The basic law of Sri Lanka was thereafter regarded as Roman-Dutch law and it was applied as such during British rule and to date.

However, the long duration of British rule saw English law exert a profound influence over the development of the legal system and laws of Sri Lanka. A large number of statutes were passed incorporating English law and English legal principles. English law also found its way into the decisions of the courts. At the same time there were indigenous statutes reflecting local needs. Thus Roman-Dutch law can be seen today as the residuary law of the land. It is applied in situations not covered either by statutes, case-law or the customary laws.

In this way both the Roman-Dutch law and the English law became rooted in the Sri Lankan legal system. In certain fields of law the influence of the Roman-Dutch law is greater, while in others that of English law is more.  In many areas in which the law is contained in statutes the influence of English law is greater. Criminal law, procedure and the law of evidence are statutory and show a strong identification with English law. Administrative law, although it is not found in statutes but built up in case-law, is also entirely English in character.

In most areas of private or civil law influence of Roman-Dutch law is stronger, for example the law of delict or torts, the law of contract, family law and in particular the law of property. An exception is commercial law, where the Roman-Dutch law was repealed and English legal principles incorporated in a series of statutes such as the Companies Act and the Sale of Goods Ordinance.

Another sense in which the legal system of Sri Lanka is mixed is that it includes what are called the special laws. A part from the general law which applies to everyone, which is made up of English and Roman-Dutch law, Sri Lanka also has Muslim law, Kandyan and Tesawalamai, which apply respectively to Muslims, Kandyan Sinhalese and to Tamil inhabitants of the “Province” of Jaffna. Much of the special laws are now found in statutes, such as Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act and Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act. Those to whom the special laws apply have a choice of being governed either under the general law or their special law. Kandyan law and Tesawalamai are not as commonly used today. Muslim law on the other hand continues in significance and regularly comes up for consideration before the courts.

The two great system of law in existence in the democratic countries of the world are the common law system found for instance in England, the United States, Australia and India and the civil law system found in many European countries such as France and Germany. The common law in this context means English law or the body  of  law and legal system as they have developed over several centuries in England and Wales. The civil law refers to the legal system based on Roman law.