Research Seminar - Professor Sharya Scharenguivel

Abstract:

This article looks at both the colonial and post-colonial attempts at divorce reform in Sri Lanka. The colonial period was characterized by the imposition of colonial values in relation to marriage and divorce. The Christian notion of a formal near indissoluble marriage was introduced into the General Law and notions of fault were introduced into the Kandyan law, a customary law based on the premise that marriage was a purely secular institution. In the Thesawalamai, the customary laws of the Tamils of the Northern Province, the General Law of divorce was introduced. The codifications of the customary laws of the Tamils in the colonial era did not cover divorce either because no principles could be identified or because the intention of the legislators was to codify the principles relating to property and succession rather than termination of marriages. Muslim law remained less influenced by the colonial law except in relation to procedural aspects. In the post-colonial period many commissions and committees have recommended changes in relation to the General Law of divorce. Yet the legislature has not chosen to give effect to those recommendations. It would seem that the legislative apathy stems from the fact that there is no wide scale agitation for divorce reform.