Sri Lanka Parliament Approves Two Year Extension for Superior Court Judges

Published 5d ago · Updated 4d ago

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Sri Lanka's parliament has extended superior court judges' terms by two years to clear legal backlogs despite opposition protests.

What's new · 2d agoParliament has now formally approved and adopted the constitutional amendment after initial debates and protests.

Sri Lanka's parliament has passed a constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age and tenure of superior court judges by two years. Lawmakers pushed through the legislative changes despite street protests and opposition from major political factions. The government defended the reforms as a necessary step to alleviate heavy court backlogs and reduce overcrowding in prisons following deadly unrest.

The legislative amendment raises the retirement age for Supreme Court judges from sixty-five to sixty-seven years.
The retirement age for Court of Appeal judges has been increased from sixty-three to sixty-five years.
The reforms also include an expansion in the number of judges serving in the appellate court.
The main opposition party organised demonstrations outside parliament to oppose the judicial changes.

By the numbers

2 yrsretirement age increase

65previous Supreme Court retirement age

67new Supreme Court retirement age

1.1Mbacklog of cases

Timeline

Sep 24Opposition parties staged protests outside parliament against proposed judicial reforms.
Sep 25Parliament voted to approve the constitutional amendment extending judicial terms.

Why it matters

Judicial reforms in Sri Lanka are often contentious due to concerns over the separation of powers and institutional independence. The government aims to resolve a backlog reportedly exceeding one million pending cases.

What outlets agree on

Sri Lanka's parliament adopted a constitutional amendment extending the tenure and retirement age of superior court judges by two years, a move met with street demonstrations led by the political opposition.

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