According to the Senior Legal Officer of the human rights organization Lawyers for Human Rights and Development (LHRD) in Colombo, Sri Lanka (19 Mar. 2000):

It is possible for any Sri Lankan of any ethnic or religious group to obtain a divorce in Sri Lanka. But the regime of Personal Law is not uniform throughout the island. Followers of Islam can obtain a divorce under Muslim Law. Persons from what are deemed Kandyan Provinces, if they married under the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Law (known as Kandyan Law) can obtain a divorce under it. For the rest of the population (Low country Sinhalese (Kandyan Provinces being known as the hill country), Tamils, Burghers etc., can obtain a divorce under the Civil Procedure Code. The General Marriages Ordinance (GMO) governs their marriage. To the vast majority in this country, the GMO applies. The Legal regime is not dependent on the ethnicity of a person, but territorial, except in the case of Muslims. A Kandyan has the option of marrying either under the Kandyan Law or under the GMO. For legal purposes, a Kandyan is a person, who is a descendent from those who occupied Kandyan Provinces in 1815. ...

If a Kandyan Person marries under the Kandyan Law (Only a Kandyan can do so) he/she must naturally obtain a divorce under the same law, which is more liberal than under the GMO. Kandyan Law accepts the concept of breakdown of marriage for divorce. Under Kandyan Law, grounds for divorce are:

Adultery by wife after marriage;

Adultery by husband together with extreme cruelty and incest;

Desertion by either party consistently for 2 years;

Inability to live amicably together;

Mutual consent.

A Kandyan divorce can be obtained by applying for same to the District Registrar of Marriages. On receiving an application, he will conduct an inquiry and make a decision. Any party aggrieved with that decision may appeal to the Court of Appeal and from there, if necessary, to the Supreme Court. In recent times, it has become very common for Kandyans to marry under the GMO.

On the other hand, for those who marry under the GMO, only the concept of marital fault is acceptable for divorce. Thus divorce is granted only if there is malicious desertion, adultery after marriage or where the man was suffering from incurable impotency at the time of contracting the marriage. To obtain a divorce under this law is more difficult. However persistent domestic violence is sufficient reason for divorce as it's accepted as constructive malicious desertion. The party who has the right to file action is the victimised party (It's not who left the matrimonial home that's in issue)

To liberalise divorce, the Civil Procedure Code was amended in 1974. Sec 608 of the CPC provides for divorce in the event of the parties being separated for 7 years. But judicial interpretation shows that this 7 year period is in fact considered as proof of separation with a view to terminate the marriage and divorce is not granted for a mere separation of 7 years. For ex. Either party is sent to prison for a 7 year period. This will not be a sufficient reason for divorce. Buddhism contains no explicit sanctions against divorce (unlike in Christianity), but cultural beliefs on morality sometimes makes judges a little hesitant to grant divorce easily. A process of family counseling with a view to reconcile parties is an integral element of the divorce proceedings. A conservative judge may give more importance to this element, thus delaying what to many seem inevitable.

Divorce laws are currently being reviewed with a view to law reform.

For information on LHRD and its activities, please consult the 11 January 1996 letter from LHRD attached to LKA23043.E of 25 January 1996. The following also provide information on LHRD: LKA23271.E of 22 March 1996, LKA23902.E of 15 April 1996, LKA24160.E of 14 May 1996 and LKA24472.E of 20 June 1996.

There are several other references to divorce in Sri Lanka. According to

Country Reports 1999

Women have equal rights under national, civil, and criminal law. However, issues related to family law, including divorce, child custody and inheritance, are adjudicated by the customary law of each ethnic or religious group. The minimum age of marriage for women is 18 years, except in the case of Muslims, who continue to follow their customary marriage practices. The application of different legal practices based on membership in a religious or ethnic group often results in discrimination against women (25 Feb. 2000, Section 4).

A 22 March 1998 article from The Island stated that "the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act of 1954 provides for the registration of marriages between persons subject to the Kandyan law."

A woman was reported to "have obtained a divorce from her husband [a District Judge] after a Quazi court hearing on the basis of her husband's alleged immoral conduct with a 14 year old girl who was working in their home as a domestic aide. She said her ex-husband, however, had filed an application for revision of the Quazi Board's order" (INFORM Mar. 1999).

A 1997 Women in Action report stated that some laws, including divorce, are "prejudicial" to Muslim women and "women from certain regions of the country. ... Attempts at legal reform however have also been met with resistance, sometimes even from women's groups. Legal reforms to divorce law attempting to introduce the concept of 'no-fault' was seen as an attempt to undermine the family, and resisted."

A 4 December 1997 IPS report stated that women often choose to work abroad as a way out of a difficult marriage "since divorce is difficult and shameful in rural societies."

A 17 December 1997 AP reports stated that "men often convert to Islam and marry again if their wives refuse to grant them a divorce. Women in Sri Lanka usually resist divorce because they are often dependent financially on their husbands and divorce proceedings can drag on for years."

In reporting on the issuing of an arrest warrant for "a man who left his wife after winning dlrs 50,000 in a lottery and fled the country," AP reported that "under Sri Lankan Law each partner in a marriage has his own assets, but in cases of separation or divorce men usually must pay to maintain women" (10 Nov. 1998).

For further information on divorce in Sri Lanka please consult LKA17798.E of 24 June 1994.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associated Press (AP). 10 November 1998. "Sri Lankan Man Abandons His Wife and Flees the Country After Winning Lottery." (NEXIS)

_____. 17 December 1997. "Bigamy Banned for Converted Muslims." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 25 February 2000. http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/srilanka.html [Accessed 16 Mar. 2000]

Inter Press Service (IPS). 4 December 1997. Feizai Samath. "Sri Lanka: Alarming Rise in Number of Suicides Seen." (NEXIS)

The Island [Colombo]. 22 March 1998. K.H.J. Wijayadasa. "Tamil 'Homeland' Theory of EP - A Hoax." http://www.is.lk/is/spot/sp0237/clip7.html [Accessed 10 Mar. 2000]

Lawyers for Human Rights and Development (LHRD), Colombo, Sri Lanka. 19 March 2000. Correspondence from Legal Officer.

Sri Lankan Information Monitor (INFORM) [Colombo]. March. 1999. Situation Report: March 1999.

Women in Action. 1997. Kumudini Samuel. "Foregrounding Women's Human Rights." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

LEXIS-NEXIS

REFWORLD

Resource Centre. Sri Lanka country file. October 1998 - February 2000.

Win News [Lexington, Mass.]. 1998.

The Women's Watch [Minneapolis]. January 1998 - February 2000.

World News Connection (WNC)

Unsuccessful attempts to contact 3 non-documentary sources

Internet sites including:

The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy

LawCrawler International

Sri Lanka Monitor [London].