III. THE CONSTITUTION (1978) a. Devolution of Governance There are some aspects of the Constitution that are relevant to responses to Reproductive Health Rights and GBV. Governance under the Constitution is based on the idea of a unitary State. The Central government and its agencies are therefore very important in responding to these issues. Health services and management of all but national schools are areas which under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution come within the Provincial Councils governance. The Provincial Councils can therefore legislate and regulate these areas. The legislative power and administration in the Provinces are covered by the Provincial Council’s Act. A provincial public service facilitates the administration of the provinces. However there is national legislation which prevails in the case of inconsistency in areas that impact on GBV. This is why the Penal Code and the other laws mentioned in this Compendium apply in all the provinces. b. Human Rights Protection The protection of human rights in Sri Lanka must be seen as a combination of State obligation under the Constitution and implementation through institutions such as the Courts and Human Rights Commission. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution has new provisions on the duties of the President, and the first is to “ensure that the Constitution is respected and upheld.” (Art 33 (1)(a)). 1). State Obligation Chapter 3 of the Constitution has put in place a list of fundamental rights and also recognized that they can be enforced through legal procedures. The latter concept is important because the rights set out are not merely ideas but give the people the right to claim remedies for violation. This concept of enforcement of rights creates duties and obligations on the State to fulfill and implement fundamental rights in all areas of governance. The earlier 1972 Constitution did not provide for this procedure, so the 1978 Constitution introduced an important change. Chapter IV of the Constitution sets out separate guidelines for governance. These are called “Directive Principles of State Policy.” There is no procedure for enforcing these guidelines through legal procedures to ensure that government policy is formulated so as to implement them. However they can be used to reinforce the interpretation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution, which are enforceable through legal procedures. The Scope of Fundamental Rights and their Relevance to Reproductive Health and Rights and GBV. i) The Right to Equality and Equal Protection of the Law (Art 12 (1)(2)) This is a very important right which has been interpreted in many cases in our Supreme Court and expanded to cover a wide range of arbitrary treatment [See Annex]. The right is clarified in the Constitution as a right to freedom from discrimination on identified grounds – race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, and place of birth. Women therefore cannot be discriminated against on the ground of sex, and also any of the multiple causes that can heighten or increase sex based discrimination because of these factors. GBV and infringement of reproductive health rights as discussed above can be a violation COMPENDIUM ON LAW, GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS 35