Why this exists.
Sri Lanka’s law is public, but it is not accessible. The Constitution is a 280-page PDF in nineteenth-century drafting; judgments sit behind subscriptions; Hansards are scattered. Lanka Records is building one place to read the primary sources, free, with a plain-language layer over the official text. It starts with the Constitution.
An independent project. Lanka Records is not a government body. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting for the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Government, any court or any political party, and nothing on it is legal advice.
What is actually here
Counted from the data each time this page loads, so the figures cannot drift from what the site holds.
Where the text comes from
The structure, article numbers, marginal titles and amendment footnotes all follow The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Revised Edition 2023, as amended up to 31 October 2022, published by the Parliament Secretariat. That is the edition prepared by the Bills Office of the Legislative Services Department of Parliament.
Where an article's official text appears on this site, it is reproduced from that edition. Nothing is paraphrased inside a quoted passage.
How the summaries are written
Each article carries a plain-language summary written for this site. The aim is to say what the article actually does in the words a person would use themselves — not to shorten the legal text, and not to soften it. Where an article contains a catch worth knowing about, the summary says so: Article 16 keeps pre-1978 laws valid despite the rights chapter, Article 29 makes the directive principles unenforceable, Article 80 closes off challenges once a Bill becomes law. Those are the parts most guides leave out.
Summaries are explanations, not the law. Where the summary and the official text seem to differ, the official text governs — and where the official Sinhala, Tamil and English texts differ, the Sinhala text prevails.
What this site is not
Not official
It is an independent educational project. It is not affiliated with the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Government, or any political party.
Not legal advice
If you have a real legal question — a fundamental rights application, a land dispute, an arrest — read the official text and speak to a qualified attorney-at-law.
Not a reason to wait
Note in particular that a fundamental rights petition under Article 126 must be filed within one month of the infringement, so a delay costs you the remedy.
Not the whole text
Most articles here carry a summary only. The figures above say how many carry the official wording; for the rest, the official PDF is the text to rely on.
Known gaps
Stated plainly, so you know what you are relying on.
| Gap | Detail |
|---|---|
| English only, for now | Sinhala and Tamil versions are the obvious next step. The official texts in both languages are on the Parliament site. |
| Case law not included | Many articles mean what the Supreme Court has held them to mean. Those interpretations are not covered here. |
| The 22nd Amendment | Parliament's page now lists a Twenty Second Amendment with a Bill available. The consolidated official text is current only to the 21st, so check the Parliament page for the current position. |
| Schedules summarised only | The nine schedules — including the Ninth Schedule's three devolution lists — are described, not reproduced. |