Abstract:
Chapter III of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1978 guarantees fundamental
rights from Article 10 to 14.Article 17 being a provision in the chapter entitled “ Fundamental Rights” the right to
move the Supreme Court, when a fundamental right has been infringed or is about to be infringed by executive or
administrative action, is in itself a fundamental right . Though Constitution provides enforcement mechanism,
rights have not been protected and promoted in Sri Lanka. Article 126(2) of the Constitution provides a one month
time period for a person to file an application of an infringement of right. One month is hardly sufficient to obtain
legal advice and documents to present a prima facie case. Article 126(2) of the constitution provides that such an
application may be made by such person himself or by an Attorney-at-law on his behalf.The public interest
litigation is not seriously considered in Sri Lanka like in India. Article 17 speaks of infringement of fundamental
rights by executive or administrative action and legislative and judicial actions have been purposely omitted from
the scope of Article 17. The main objective of this study is to understand the present state of law relating to
fundamental rights and to identify possible areas for widening the scope of rights both by constitutional amendment
and judicial activism
