Senior lawyer K Kanag-Isvaran said the articles 10 to 15 of Sri Lanka's constitution guaranteed the fundamental rights of citizens. Some of the rights were also available to non-citizens.
Under article 126 of the constitution, only the Supreme Court could hear and make determinations on the "infringement or imminent infringement" of fundamental rights.
"However the infringement should be by executive or administrative actions by a State party," Kanag-Isvaran told a forum organized by the junior bar of Sri Lanka's bar association.
"Clearly therefore, this jurisdiction has no application to private persons and private bodies corporate.
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A person alleging violation of his fundamental right by executive or administrative action has to apply to court within one month.
"However in recent times the Supreme Court has evolved the doctrine of 'public trust' whereby broadly stated, bodies which have access to public funds, whether they be private or public bodies, are deemed to hold those