The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution and a companion Bill on the judicial service go before Parliament on Tuesday, putting the government’s contested plan to raise the retirement age of judges to its first test in the legislature.
Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara is expected to present both Bills at the start of the sitting’s main business, Ada Derana reported. The measures were gazetted on August 7 and are on the Order Paper.
What the two Bills would change
If the 22nd Amendment passes, the retirement age of Supreme Court judges would rise from 65 to 67, and that of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65.
The companion Bill would raise the retirement age of judges serving in the High Courts, District Courts and Magistrates’ Courts to 62.
Ada Derana called the second measure the “Judicature (Amendment) Bill” in its opening line but the “Judicial Organization (Amendment) Bill” later in the same report. Hiru News, reporting in Sinhala, used the Judicial Organization form, which LankaNewz has followed.
Opposition to object at the first reading
The Opposition, led by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, will raise objections when the Bills are taken up, Ada Derana reported. The decision came at an Opposition parliamentary group meeting on Monday evening at the Opposition Leader’s office, according to Hiru News.
The group also proposed filing petitions against both Bills and that a full bench of all 13 Supreme Court judges hear them — a request opposition parties first made in early August.
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila told a news conference in Colombo on Monday that his party also expects to file a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Bills, Hiru News reported.
The challenge window
Once a Bill is presented, Ada Derana said, a one-week period is available for it to be challenged before the Supreme Court. The court must then communicate its determination to the Speaker within three to 21 days of considering the petitions.
That one-week figure differs from Ada Derana’s own report a day earlier, which described a 14-day window. The outlet has not reconciled the two accounts.
Sustained opposition
The proposal has drawn objections from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, which has warned it will pursue legal avenues, and from the Chief Prelates, who are consulting the three main Buddhist chapters. Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said on Sunday the government expects enactment by September-end or October.
