Is the interpretation of the law/act published in English, which as a translation, shall be exercise or enjoyment of the sovereignty of the people.*

Is the interpretation of the law/act published in English, which as a translation, shall be exercise or enjoyment of the sovereignty of the people.*

1. Article 23 of the Constitution refers the Language of Legislation and states that laws must be enacted, made and published in Sinhala and Tamil together with a translation thereof in English. 2. Article 3 of the Constitution states that the sovereignty of the Republic of Sri Lanka resides in the people and is inalienable. 3. The Sinhala language text and the English translation of Article 83(b) of the Constitution are different. 4. Interpreting the law according to the language of the legislature in Article 23 of the Constitution, rather than according to the translation published in English, demonstrates the sovereignty of the people in accordance with Articles 3 and 23 of the Constitution. 5. Therefore, according to Article 23 of the Constitution, laws should be interpreted not according to the which published with the English translation, but according to the Sinhala and Tamil language texts, which are the languages of law enforcement. If there is an inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil language texts, Parliament decides which language text should prevail, and Parliament has decided that it is the Sinhala language text. (The Constitution does not provide any step for consideration of the English translation.) Accordingly above reasons, it can be said that interpreting laws according to the law/act in English, which is published as a translation, is not an exercise or enjoyment of the sovereignty of the people. * Translation of the article නීති පැනවීමේදී පරිවර්තනයක් ලෙස දැක්වෙන ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් පළවී ඇති නීතිය / පනත අනුව අර්ථනිරූපණය කිරීම ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමක්ද? බුක්තිවිදීමක්ද? http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2025/07/blog-post.html?m=1 Aruna Laksiri Unawatuna B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col) AAL Cordinator, Dr Thilaka Padma Subasinghe Memorial Leagal Education Program. 2025.07.05