Soulbury Commission

Soulbury Commission, commission sent by the British government to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1944 to examine a constitutional draft prepared by the Ceylonese ministers of government and, on the basis of it, to make recommendations for a new constitution. The Soulbury Commission (headed by the 1st Baron, afterward 1st Viscount, Soulbury) called for the retention of universal adult suffrage and territorial rather than communal representation, as specified by the constitution of 1931, which was based on the recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission (1927). This time, however, in order to ensure that minority groups would secure more seats, electorates were delimited in a new way.

A House of Representatives was created with complete power in domestic affairs, only external affairs and defense being relegated to the British governor-general of Ceylon. In addition, a cabinet of ministers, with a prime minister responsible to the House of Representatives, was called for. Finally, a new body—a Senate—was added, made up partly of elected and partly of nominated members. A new constitution adopting these recommendations—which were essentially the same as those contained in the Ceylonese ministers’ draft—was promulgated in 1946. Following Ceylonese independence (1948), this constitution was slightly altered to remove the last items that were inconsistent with complete self-government. Baron Soulbury became Ceylon’s second governor-general (1949–54).