Some thoughts on Contempt . Article 105(3) of the Constitution states that the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall be a superior court of record and shall have all the powers of such court including the power to punish for contempt of itself, whether committed in the court itself or elsewhere. The 1st, 3rd and 5th Respondents do not contest the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to punish for contempt of itself. The point urged is that in the absence of any rules of the Supreme Court made under Article 136(1)(b) of the Constitution for the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by Article 105(3) of the Constitution, to continue a procedure which was hitherto used as a practice in the Supreme Court, i.e. the issue of a Rule Nisi, will be ultra vires the powers of the Superior Courts post the 1978 Constitution. Power/Jurisdiction Before I proceed to deal with the preliminary objection in detail, the following o...
For Sri Lankan legal practitioners.