Palihawadana vs. Assistant Commissioner of Labour and Another – sllr 2021 volume 3 page 067

In Palihawadana v. Assistant Commissioner of Labour and another, the court addressed whether the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) could invoke diplomatic and jurisdictional immunity from enforcement proceedings before domestic courts in the context of an employment dispute. It was held that the FAO’s claim to immunity was not justified absent an express conferral through a valid Order under section 4(1) of the Diplomatic Privileges Act, underscoring the necessity for explicit statutory recognition of international organisational immunity within Sri Lanka’s dualist legal system. This decision reaffirmed the principle that international agreements require domestic enabling legislation to have legal effect, emphasizing the primacy of domestic statutory instruments such as the Diplomati