Prof. Anton Cooray – Bridges across legal traditional divides: Oriental and Occidental Laws in Sri Lanka

Comparative lawyers have been fascinated by the challenges that are thrown by legal transplants. In mixed jurisdictions where two or more legal traditions have taken root comparative jurists are able to observe how these legal traditions sometimes conflict and sometimes mingle with each other.

In the case of Sri Lanka where Colonial masters found fairly well developed indigenous laws the introduction of their laws have had to be done in not a destructive way but in a complimentary manner. The British Colonial administration which is responsible for forming the present state of law and legal system in Sri Lanka respected not only the indigenous laws but also the Roman Dutch law that had been introduced by their predecessors the Dutch.

Legislative reforms during the British Rule continued into the post-colonial period and have modernized the law but not completely uprooted the indigenous laws and legal traditions. In a similar vain judges, both British and Sri Lanka, have interpreted relevant statutes and customary laws to minimize friction between local customs and the received laws.