Decision Maker

Government of Sri Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka operates as a semi-presidential system within a framework of a democratic republic, where the President of Sri Lanka is both the head of state and the head of government. Governance is shared between the president, the parliament, and the judiciary, while executive power is vested in the president who is directly elected by the people. The legal system is strongly influenced by Roman-Dutch, English common law, and Jaffna Tamil laws, which makes it quite diverse. The parliament of Sri Lanka is a unicameral 225-member legislature elected by universal suffrage and the judiciary features a Supreme Court - the highest appellate and constitutional court, Court of Appeal, High Courts and a number of subordinate courts.