Senate of Ceylon

The Senate of Ceylon was the upper house of parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947. The Senate was appointed rather than elected. It was abolished in 1971 prior to the adaptation of the the new constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.

Role

The Senate was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinizing and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. The model for the Senate's role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.

Membership

It consisted of 30 members, of whom 15 were elected by the House of Representatives and 15 nominated by the Governor-General of Ceylon on advice of the Prime Minister.

Presidents of the Senate

*Professor Sir Nicholas Attygalle (1953 - 1960) [ [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2387761 In Memoriam: Sir Nicholas Attygalle] ]
*Sir Cyril de Zoysa (1960 - 1965)

Notable Senators

*E. W. Perera
*Sir Ernest de Silva
*Sir Oliver Goonetilleke
*Sirimavo Bandaranaike
*Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne
*Deshamanya James Peter Obeyesekere
*Lady Evadne De Silva
*Lady Adoline Molamure
*Justin Kotelawala
*R.A. de Mel
*N.U Jayawardane
*A.P. Jayasuriya
*Heen Banda Udurawana
*E.W. Kannangara
*P.Nagalingam
*S.R.Kanaganayagam
*S.Nadesan
*S.Nadarajah

ee also

*Parliament of Sri Lanka

References

External links

* [http://www.parliament.lk/about_us/evolution.jsp Evolution of the Parliamentary System, parliament.lk]