Colebrooke–Cameron Commission


The Colebrooke–Cameron Commission was appointed in 1833 as a Royal Commission of Eastern Inquiry by the British Colonial Office. According to Sir Charles Jeffries' book, Ceylon - The Path to Independence, "by the time the Commission got round to Ceylon, in 1829, most of the members had fallen by the wayside, and only one, Major Colebrooke was left." to assess the administration of the island of Ceylon and to make recommendations for administrative, financial, economic, and judicial reform.
The commission comprised William MacBean George Colebrooke and Charles Hay Cameron. Cameron was in charge for investigating the judicial system. The legal and economic proposals made by the commission in 1833 were innovative and radical. Many of the proposals were adopted. They signified for Ceylon the first manifestation of constitutional government, the first steps toward modernising the traditional economic system, and the beginnings of a uniform system of justice, education, and civil administration.

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