Abstract:
A land is a tool through which an income can be generated by an individual, family and a
community at large. Because of the civilization and emergence of human rights concepts, it
became a proprietary right and it is internationally recognized that the states have to ensure
that every one has the equal right to access the land. Despite of this development, most of the
countries reserve the land rights in the hands of male. Although Sri Lankan Constitution
ensures the equality and equal protection before the law, the women are discriminated to
have and handle the property as feme sole under the customary laws. This paper studies the
discriminatory provisions in both Kandyan law and Thesawalamai. The Kandyan law
discriminated the diga married daughter, wife and widow to inherit the paraveni property of
their deceased father or husband. A married woman who is subject to Thesawalamai cannot
handle her immovable property as feme sole because of her husband's marital power over
her immovable property. This discrimination is a reflection of the patriarchal system where
the man is the head of the family and can have the control over the others. The result of this
study proposes the means to balance the right of both men and women to access the land in an
equal manner in the contemporary society. It is a qualitative mode of study based on the
ordinances, judicial decisions and academic writings.
