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Report of the Commission on Constitutional Reform

1945

Just as the union of Spain and Portugal exposed Ceylon to the attacks of the Dutch so the overrunning of Holland by the French Revolutionary forces with whom Great Britain was at war led the British to invade the Island in order to deny to the French Navy the fine natural harbour of Trincomalee and to obtain the use of a naval base from which to operate in the Bay of Bengal. [...] The Executive Council was to consist of five members under the chairmanship of the Governor— the Commander of the Forces the Colonial Secretary the Queen's Advocate the Colonial Treasurer and the Government Agent for the Central Province. [...] the Secretary of State announced the appointment of a Special Commission under the chairmanship of the Earl of Donoughmore with the following terms of reference : — To visit Ceylon and report on the working of the existing Constitution and on any difficulties of administration which may have arisen in conection with it; to consider any proposals for the revision of the Consttution that may [...] The Governor also drew attention to the fact that nowithstanding the rejection by the State Council of the Perera resolution on the Executive Committees the Ministers now proposed to make an important change in the method of appointing the Chairmen of the Committees. [...] The despatch enumerated the main subjects at issue namely the special powers of the Governor the method of selecing Ministers the relations between the Ministers the Executive Committees and the State Council the representation of the minority communities and the franchise.
government politics public policy
Pages
177
Published in
United Kingdom
SARF Document ID
sarf.146723
Segment Pages Author Actions
Cover
i-i unknown view
Frontmatter
ii-ii unknown view
Prologue
3-4 unknown view
Chapter I. The Historical Background
5-7 unknown view
Chapter II. Constitutional Development Up to the Donoughmore Constitution of 1931
7-12 unknown view
Chapter III. The Donoughmore Constitution: The First State Council 1931-36
12-18 unknown view
Chapter IV. The Donoughmore Constitution: From the 1936 Election to the 1943 Declaration
19-28 unknown view
Chapter V. The Donoughmore Constitution: Developments Since the 1943 Declaration
28-32 unknown view
Chapter VI. Social Progress under the Donoughmore Constitution
32-38 unknown view
Chapter VII. The Minorities
38-41 unknown view
Chapter VIII. Discrimination
41-50 unknown view
Chapter IX. The Kandyan Problem
50-53 unknown view
Chapter X. The Franchise
53-60 unknown view
Chapter XI. Immigration
60-64 unknown view
Chapter XII. Electoral Abuses
64-66 unknown view
Chapter XIII. Representation
66-75 unknown view
Chapter XIV. The Legislature: The Question of a Second Chamber
75-82 unknown view
Chapter XV. The First Chamber
82-85 unknown view
Chapter XVI. The Executive
86-88 unknown view
Chapter XVII. The Governor-General: Powers Status and Salary
89-96 unknown view
Chapter XVIII. The Public Services
97-105 unknown view
Chapter XIX. The Judicial Services
105-108 unknown view
Epilogue
109-110 unknown view
Acknowledgments
111-112 unknown view
Summary of Recommendations
112-118 unknown view
Appendix I. Ceylon. Sessional Paper XIV—1944
119-135 unknown view
Appendix II. List of Witnesses
136-138 unknown view
Appendix III. Itinerary
139-139 unknown view
Appendix IV. Population Statistics
140-143 unknown view
Appendix V. Statistics of Revenue and Expenditure
143-146 unknown view
Appendix VI. Shipping Statistics
146-147 unknown view
Appendix VII. Statistics of Imports and Exports
147-149 unknown view
Appendix VIII. Educational Statistics 1944
150-153 unknown view
Appendix IX. Cultivation Statistics
154-155 unknown view
Appendix X. Cost of Living Statistics
156-156 unknown view
Appendix XI. Statistics of Banking and Finance
157-159 unknown view