Sri Lanka, Sept. 20 -- The current legal system of Sri Lanka dates back to 1801, the year that the British established the Supreme Court of Judicature in the island of Ceylon. Sri Lanka is a unique country where a mixed legal system functions. Ordinarily, there are two main legal systems in the world.

The civil law system, the origin of which is traced back to Rome, is the first legal system where statutes contain the law and the role of a Judge. Such a system is limited to the interpretation of statute law.

The second is the common law system which originated in England and which was largely created by the ecclesiastical approach of the church. Under the common law system, the role of a Judge was to identify new concepts of law and had...