Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe says he has proposed setting up a parliamentary select committee to address the backlog of some 1.1 million pending court cases, telling reporters he asked Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to place a formal proposal before the government.
The proposal emerged from a meeting of opposition party leaders at the Office of the Opposition Leader, convened following a written request from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Namal Rajapaksa. The leaders sought a collective response to the government’s plan to extend the retirement age of Supreme Court judges — a measure the administration says is intended to help clear the case backlog, but which the opposition has linked to wider concerns over judicial independence.
The gathering brought together figures from across the political divide, including Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, Sarva Jana Balaya leader Dilith Jayaweera, Namal Rajapaksa and former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, according to Daily Mirror and NewsFirst. Senior United National Party representatives and other political figures were also reported to have taken part.
Wickremesinghe argued that the opposition should present a united front in Parliament and pursue the appointment of a select committee to tackle the backlog directly, rather than relying solely on changes to judges’ tenure.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka and judicial officers’ associations have objected to the retirement-age amendment, warning that alterations to judges’ terms of office must not be used to influence the composition or independence of the courts. The opposition has framed the issue as a test of the separation of powers.
Update (August 4): proposal formally submitted to the Speaker
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya has formally submitted the proposal to Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, moving the idea from discussion to a tabled parliamentary request.
A resolution initiated by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was signed on Monday by the SJB parliamentary group, and a group of SJB MPs led by Premadasa handed it to the Speaker on Tuesday. The request is made under Standing Orders 100 to 110, and asks the committee to examine the causes of the case backlog, recommend short-, medium- and long-term solutions, and address prison overcrowding.
Ministry of Justice data puts the number of cases pending in the system at approximately 1.1 million.
The resolution identifies unfilled judicial vacancies, a shortage of legal officers at the Attorney General’s Department and delays in obtaining reports from the Government Analyst’s Department and the Government Valuation Department as the main causes of delay. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has acknowledged in Parliament that the workload and consequent delays at the Attorney General’s Department are also significant contributors.
The submission explicitly links the backlog to conditions in the prison system. Ada Derana, citing Department of Prisons data, reported that prisons built for about 10,000 inmates are holding more than 40,000, with around 75 per cent of them suspects awaiting the conclusion of proceedings — a connection underlined by the recent unrest at Mahara and Negombo prisons.
NewsFirst traced the move back to the July 23 opposition meeting, noting that Wickremesinghe had advised Premadasa at that discussion to pursue the select committee route.
