The Constitutional Council (CC) is a 10-member constitutional authority in Sri Lanka tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring its affairs. The Constitutional Council is aimed at depoliticizing the public service.
History The Constitutional Council was first established in 2000 under the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. In 2010 President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Parliamentary Council, under the Eighteenth Amendment, to replace it. After Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the new reforms to reinstate a new Constitutional Council in 2015 under the Nineteenth Amendment.
The independent commissions were established under the Constitutional Council, fulfilling one of the major promises of the United National Party- led Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena during the 2015 presidential election.
Membership
Composition The composition of the Constitutional Council consists of ten members, of whom three are ex officio members while the rest are appointed. As per Chapter VIIA, Article 41, of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, members of the council consists of the following:
(a) the Prime Minister; (b) the Speaker of Parliament; (c) the Leader of the Opposition; (d) one person appointed by the President; (e) five persons appointed by the President, on the nomination of both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition; and (f) one person nominated by agreement of the majority of the Members of Parliament belonging to political parties or independent groups, other than the respective political parties or independent groups to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition belong, and appointed by the President.
Qualification It is the duty of the speaker, as chairman, to ensure that nominations for appointments to the Constitutional Council's appointed seats (the non ex officio members) are made, whenever an occasion for such nominations arise. Members nominated under sub paragraphs d, e or f "shall be persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party". All appointments made by the President shall be communicated to the Speaker.
Members can vacate the office by resigning in the form of writing addressed to the President or can be removed from office by the President when both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have formed the opinion that such member is "physically or mentally incapacitated and is unable to function further in office or is convicted by a court of law for any offence involving moral turpitude or if a resolution for the imposition of civic disability upon him or her has been passed in terms of Article 81 of the Constitution or is deemed to have vacated his or her office under paragraph (7) of Article 41E". The President shall within two weeks, of there being a vacancy of any of the appointed members, appoint another person to succeed that member. The newly appointed member shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term of his/her predecessor.
Term The Speaker shall continue to hold office as a member of the Council for as long as they continue to occupy the office. The members occupying the seats held by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition shall continue to hold office as members of the Council for as long as they continue to occupy the office, or until such time after a General Election following such dissolution of parliament. All appointed members shall hold office for a term of three years from the date of appointment. Appointed members are not eligible for reappointment. However members shall continue to hold office on the council until a successor assumes the seat of the vacating member.
Members 2015-2018 The President and Prime Minister appointed their nominees, Minister Champika Ranawaka (President's nomination), Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (Prime Minister's nomination) and Vijitha Herath (Parliament's nomination), have been appointed to the council on 9 September 2015.
Appointed members A. T. Ariyaratne, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Shibly Aziz were nominated to the council on 10 September 2015 and were approved by parliament on 22 September 2015.
2018-2021 Appointed members Naganathan Sellvakumaran, Jayantha Dhanapala, and Javed Yusuf was nominated to the council on 19 October 2018.
2020 Jayantha Dhanapala resigned from the council in 2020, after 2020 General election Karu Jayasuriya was replaced by the new speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane as the 2nd chairman. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa were elected by their position as Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Mahindananda Aluthgamage was named as the Presidents nomination. In 2020 20th amendment was passed dissolving the council.
2022 In October 2022 Parliament pass the 21st amendment establishing the council back.
Seat No. Member Seat Joined Council Left Council/End of term Party Notes 1 Jagath Wickramaratne Speaker 17 December 2024 Incumbent National People's Power Chairman 2 Harini Amarasuriya Prime Minister 24 September 2024 Incumbent National People's Power 3 Sajith Premadasa Leader of the Opposition 5 December 2019 Incumbent Samagi Jana Balawegaya 4 Bimal Rathnayake President's nomination 17 November 2024 Incumbent National People's Power 5 S. Sritharan Parliament nomination 21 November 2024 Incumbent Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 6 Aboobucker Athambawa Prime Minister's nomination 2025 Incumbent National People's Power 7 Ajith Perera Opposition Leader's nomination 21 November 2024 Incumbent Samagi Jana Balawegaya 8 Professor Wasantha Seneviratne Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 23 January 2026 Incumbent Independent 9 Austin Fernando Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 23 January 2026 Incumbent Independent 10 Ranjith Ariyaratne Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 23 January 2026 Incumbent Independent
Former Members
Seat No. Member Seat Joined Council Left Council/End of term Party Notes 4 Champika Ranawaka President's nomination 9 September 2015 17 September 2018 Jathika Hela Urumaya Term Ended. 6 Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Prime's Minister's nomination 9 September 2015 28 December 2017 United National Party Resigned. 6 Tilak Marapana Prime's Minister's nomination 29 December 2017 22 September 2018 United National Party Term Ended. 7 John Seneviratne Opposition Leader's nomination 22 September 2015 22 September 2018 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Term Ended. 5 Vijitha Herath Parliament's nomination 22 September 2015 22 September 2018 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Term Ended 8 A. T. Ariyaratne Nominated by the Prime Minister 22 September 2015 22 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. 9 Radhika Coomaraswamy Nominated by the Prime Minister 22 September 2015 22 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. 10 Shibly Aziz Nominated by the Prime Minister 22 September 2015 22 September 2018 Independent Term Ended. 2 Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister 9 September 2015 26 October 2018 United National Party Removed from Prime Minister 3 R. Sampanthan Leader of the Opposition 9 September 2015 18 December 2018 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Term Ended after leaving Office. 2 Mahinda Rajapakse Prime Minister 18 December 2018 11 November 2018 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Suspended acting as Prime Minister and lost by a No confidence motion. 7 Chamal Rajapaksa Opposition Leader's nomination 11 October 2018 10 January 2019 Sri Lanka Freedom Party Resign after Mahinda Rajapakse was apponined Opposition Leader 2 Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister 26 October 2018 22 December 2019 United National Party Resigned from post after elections. 3 Mahinda Rajapakse Leader of the Opposition 18 December 2018 21 November 2019 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Appointed as Prime Minister 8 Jayantha Dhanapala Nominated by the Prime Minister 11 October 2018 14 May 2020 Independent } 1 Karu Jayasuriya Speaker 9 September 2015 Incumbent United National Party Chairman 4 Mahinda Samarasinghe President's nomination 17 September 2018 25 August 2020 Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2 Mahinda Rajapakse Prime Minister 18 November 2020 9 May 2022 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Resigned as Prime Minister 4 Mahindananda Aluthgamage President's nomination 18 November 2020 14 July 2022 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 7 Thalatha Atukorale Opposition Leader's nomination 11 August 2021 14 November 2022 Samagi Jana Balawegaya 9 Ahamed Javid Yusuf Nominated by the Prime Minister 11 October 2018 14 May 2020 Independent } 10 Naganathan Selvakkumaran Nominated by the Prime Minister 11 October 2018 14 May 2020 Independent } 4 Nimal Siripala de Silva President's nomination 29 November 2022 27 September 2024 Sri Lanka Freedom Party 2 Dinesh Gunawardena Prime Minister 22 July 2022 24 September 2024 Mahajana Eksath Peramuna 6 Sagara Kariyawasam Prime Minister's nomination 29 November 2022 24 September 2024 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 7 Kabir Hashim Opposition Leader's nomination 15 November 2022 17 November 2024Samagi Jana Balawegaya 1 Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Speaker 20 August 2020 17 November 2024 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Chairman 1 Asoka Ranwala Speaker 17 November 2024 12 December 2024 National People's Power Chairman 4 Vijitha Herath President's nomination 27 September 2024 17 November 2024 National People's Power 8 Pratap Ramanujam Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 5 January 2023 5 January 2026 Independent 9 Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 5 January 2023 5 January 2026 Independent 10 Dinesha Samararatne Nominated by the Prime Minister & Leader of Opposition 5 January 2023 5 January 2026 Independent
Staff The Constitutional Council has the power to appoint officers it deems necessary for its functioning upon such terms and conditions as it may determine.
Secretary General to the Constitutional Council The Secretary General to the Constitutional Council is appointed, by the Constitutional Council, for a five-year renewable term.
Functions
Commissions The following independent commissions were established under the Constitutional Council:
Dr. Deepika Udagama was appointed as the new Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on 20 October 2015. Sri Lanka also appointed members to Public Service Commission and the Police Commission on the same day. Dharmasena Dissanayake has been appointed the Chairman of the Public Service Commission. the Police Commission media unit said today. Justice Titus Bodhipala Weerasuriya was appointed as the Chairman of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. The President gave approval for the most important independent election commission, former election Mahinda Deshappriya was elected the chairman. By 15, 9 November out of 10 commissions were established with the promise given to the people from the Maithripala Sirisena and United National Party election manifestos in 2015 elections.
Political nominations Constitutional Council is responsible of giving their recommendations for high ranking posts of government institutions such as:
Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court President of the Court of Appeal and Judges to the Court of Appeal Members of the Judicial Service Commission except its Chairman Attorney General Auditor General Inspector General of Police Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) Secretary General of the Parliament
The first such recommendation was to apportionment Gamini Wijesinghe for the post of Auditor General in November 2015. On 10 February 2016, Constitutional Council has recommended the Senior Solicitor General and President's Counsel Jayantha Jayasuriya for the post of Attorney General.