Legislative Council of Ceylon
| Legislative Council of Ceylon | |
|---|---|
| British Ceylon | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 13 March, 1833 |
| Disbanded | 1931 |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | State Council of Ceylon |
| Seats | 16 (1833-1889) 18 (1889-1910) 21 (1910-1920) 37 (1920-1923) 49 (1923-1931) |
| Elections | |
|
Last election
|
Ceylonese Legislative Council election, 1924 |
| Meeting place | |
 |
|
| The Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort. The building was used by the Senate of Ceylon between 1947 and 1971. Today it is known as the Republic Building and houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | |
The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island. The 1931 Donoughmore Constitution replaced the Legislative Council with the State Council of Ceylon.
In 1833 the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission created the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the first step in representative government in British Ceylon. Initially the Legislative Council consisted of 16 members: the British Governor, the five appointed members of the Executive Council of Ceylon (the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, the Auditor-General, the Treasurer and the General Officer Commanding), four other government officials (including the Government Agents of the Western and Central provinces) and six appointed unofficial members (three Europeans, one Sinhalese, one Tamil and one Burgher). The unofficial members had no right to initiate legislation; they could only contribute to discussion. This was the first step towards giving the people of the country a voice in its administration. However, in 1860 the member of the Legislative Council were given the right to introduce legislation which did not deal with the financial matters.
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Wikipedia