Blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law

Tag: Maithripala Sirisena

  • The Death Penalty in Sri Lanka: Hanging by a Thread

    –Mario Gomez, Executive Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (GA) voted overwhelmingly once again, for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty.[1] 121 countries voted in favour, 35 voted against, and 32 abstained.

  • The Courts Respond to Executive Tyranny in Sri Lanka

    –Mario Gomez, Executive Director, International Centre for Ethnic Studies (Sri Lanka); previously Lecturer at the University of Colombo The final three months of 2018 were challenging times for constitutional resilience and order in Sri Lanka. Almost four years since the peaceful political transition of 2015, the country plunged into a constitutional crisis when President Sirisena…

  • Three Key Constitutional Reforms for Sri Lanka

    –Ashwini Vasanthakumar (University College, Oxford) and Rehan Abeyratne (Jindal Global Law School) On January 8, 2015, Sri Lanka elected Maithripala Sirisena as its new President. Sirisena was an unlikely victor. He was Minister of Health and General Secretary of President Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until November 2014 when he was chosen to be the…