Chapter 2: Fundamental Rights

Every person has the inviolable right to life, personal dignity, and humane treatment. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life or subjected to degrading conditions, including the non-consensual harvesting of biological organs or involuntary medical/scientific experimentation, which constitute violations akin to modern slavery.

Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

No person shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. This includes absolute prohibition of slavery, servitude, forced labor, human trafficking, bonded labor, or any form of exploitation in all its modern manifestations, with the state obligated to prevent, investigate, and remedy such violations.

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law

No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds: Provided that it shall be lawful to require a person to acquire within a reasonable time sufficient knowledge of any language as a qualification for any employment or office in the Public, Judicial or Local Government Service or in the service of any Public Corporation, where such knowledge is reasonably necessary for the discharge of the duties of such employment or office: Provided further that it shall be lawful to require a person to have a sufficient knowledge of any language as a qualification for any such employment or office where no function of that employment or office can be discharged otherwise than with a knowledge of that language.

No person shall, on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex or any one of such grounds, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, places of public entertainment and places of public worship of his own religion.

Nothing in this Article shall prevent special provision being made, by law, subordinate legislation or executive action, for the advancement of women, children or disabled persons.

No person shall be arrested except according to procedure established by law. Any person arrested shall be informed of the reason for his arrest.

Every person held in custody, detained or otherwise deprived of personal liberty shall be brought before the judge of the nearest competent court according to procedure established by law and shall not be further held in custody, detained or deprived of personal liberty except upon and in terms of the order of such judge made in accordance with procedure established by law.

Any person charged with an offence shall be entitled to be heard, in person or by an Attorney-at-Law, at a fair trial by a competent court.

No person shall be punished with death or imprisonment except by order of a competent court, made in accordance with procedure established by law. The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal liberty of a person, pending investigation or trial, shall not constitute punishment.

Every person shall be presumed innocent until he is proved guilty: Provided that the burden of proving particular facts may, by law, be placed on an accused person.

No person shall be held guilty of an offence on account of any act or omission which did not, at the time of such act or omission, constitute such an offence and no penalty shall be imposed for any offence more severe than the penalty in force at the time such offence was committed. Nothing in this Article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations. It shall not be contravention of this Article to require the imposition of a minimum penalty for an offence provided that such penalty does not exceed the maximum penalty prescribed for such offence at the time such offence was committed.

The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal liberty of a person, by reason of a removal order or a deportation order made under the provisions of the Immigrants and Emigrants Act or the Indo-Ceylon Agreement (Implementation) Act, No. 14 of 1967, or such other law as may be enacted in substitution therefor, shall not be a contravention of this Article

Every citizen is entitled to –

a.The right to freedom of opinion and expression.

i. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

ii. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

b. the freedom of peaceful assembly

c. the freedom of association

d. the freedom to form and join a trade union

e.the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching

f. the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture and to use his own language

g. the freedom to engage by himself or in association with others in any lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise

h.the freedom of movement and of choosing his residence within Sri Lanka; and

i. the freedom to return to Sri Lanka

Every citizen shall have the right of access to any information as provided for by law, being information that is required for the exercise or protection of a citizen’s right held by:-

(a) the State, a Ministry or any Government Department or any statutory body established or created by or under any law;

(b) any Ministry of a Minister of the Board of Ministers of a Province or any Department or any statutory body established or created by a statute of a Provincial Council;

(c) any local authority; and

(d) any other person, who is in possession of such information relating to any institution referred to in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of this paragraph.

No restrictions shall be placed on the right declared and recognized by this Article, other than such restrictions prescribed by law as are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals and of the reputation or the rights of others, privacy, prevention of contempt of court, protection of parliamentary privilege, for preventing the disclosure of information communicated in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary

In this Article, “citizen” includes a body whether incorporated or unincorporated, if not less than three-fourths of the members of such body are citizens.]

⁠Everyone shall have the right to privacy, which includes the inviolability of correspondence, posts, and telecommunications. This right extends to all forms of communication, ensuring that individuals can communicate freely and securely without interference.

Every citizen shall have the right to freely choose their political beliefs and affiliations without coercion or undue influence. This right includes the freedom to express political opinions and to participate in the political process

Every citizen shall have the right to vote in free and independent elections, held at regular intervals, to select representatives and to decide on matters of public importance. Elections shall be conducted in a manner that ensures transparency, fairness, and inclusivity.