The Mahanayake Theras of the four Buddhist chapters have written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake opposing the proposed constitutional amendment to raise the retirement age of judges, Bar Association of Sri Lanka President Rajeev Amarasuriya said on Monday.

Amarasuriya disclosed the letter to reporters after meeting the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter, who he said had told him the chief prelates of the Malwathu, Asgiriya, Ramanna and Amarapura chapters had jointly written to the President describing the amendment as unsuitable.

“I believe this Government has no moral right to proceed with this matter,” Amarasuriya said. “The Mahanayake Thera informed us a short while ago that the chief prelates of the Malwathu, Asgiriya, Ramanna and Amarapura Chapters have written to the President stating that this constitutional amendment is unsuitable.”

A widening front against the bill

The intervention brings the country’s senior Buddhist clergy into a dispute that has been running since June, and adds to an unusually broad coalition of objectors.

The Bar Association has opposed the amendment throughout, calling in July for the process to be halted and convening a special general meeting on the question. The Judicial Service Association’s president resigned in July over the issue, and the Church of Ceylon has also registered opposition. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya has objected to extending the Supreme Court retirement age.

The government has continued to advance the measure. The Attorney General cleared the bill on Sunday, finding it consistent with the Constitution — a step that clears the way for it to be placed before Parliament.

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said in June that the proposal had not been taken to Cabinet at that stage.

Update (August 4): Minister says the prelates were misinformed

The Mahanayake Theras had received wrong information about the extension of the retirement age of judges, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said, in the government’s first direct response to the chief prelates’ intervention.

A government delegation led by Nanayakkara and Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa visited the Mahanayake Theras in Kandy on Monday morning to brief them on the proposal. Speaking to reporters afterwards, the Minister said they had explained the government’s true purpose in bringing the measure and what had led to it, and that the Mahanayake Theras understood the position.

Asked about claims that the amendment is aimed at the current Chief Justice, Nanayakkara rejected them, saying the retirement age is being raised for all judges from the Magistrate’s Courts to the Supreme Court.

He said the extension is only one of several measures intended to ease the backlog of cases, alongside increasing the number of courts, recruiting new judges and filling vacancies at the Government Analyst’s Department.

The briefing came as Cabinet approved the draft amendment bill and the International Association of Judges called on Sri Lanka to reconsider the measure.

Update (August 8): Malwathu Mahanayake confirms the letter

The Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter has personally confirmed that the letter was sent, in the clearest indication yet that the clergy’s objection stands despite the government’s account of its Kandy briefing.

Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sri Sumangala Thera told a delegation of civil organisation leaders in Kandy on Friday morning that the Mahanayake Theras had written to President Dissanayake expressing concerns about extending the retirement age of judges, members of the delegation said afterwards.

The group included representatives of the Dinana Dakuna collective, the Free Lawyers movement and the Janatha Samuhikaya for Economic Justice, along with other mass organisations and a number of trade unions, Hiru News reported. Delegates said the Mahanayake Thera commended them for taking up shortcomings in the proposed legislation.

The confirmation is significant because it comes four days after Justice Minister Nanayakkara said the prelates had been given wrong information and had understood the government’s position once it was explained to them. The Mahanayake Thera’s remarks indicate the concerns set out in the letter have not been withdrawn.

Both Daily Mirror and Hiru News describe the signatories as the Mahanayake Theras of the three Chapters, where the Bar Association’s account on August 3 named four — Malwathu, Asgiriya, Ramanna and Amarapura. Neither outlet has explained the difference in counting, and the discrepancy has not been reconciled by the parties involved.

The meeting followed the gazetting of the 22nd Amendment and Judicature bills the previous day, which set out raising the Supreme Court retirement age to 67 and the Court of Appeal retirement age to 65, capping a Chief Justice’s tenure at age 67 or six years in office — whichever comes first — and increasing the number of Court of Appeal judges from 19 to 24.