By The Pulseline News Desk
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said the proposed extension of judges’ retirement age should not be viewed as a decision taken with any individual or group in mind, stressing that the move forms part of a broader effort to strengthen Sri Lanka’s justice system.
The President made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday (12), where the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution concerning the retirement age of judges was discussed.
The nearly hour-long meeting provided BASL representatives with an opportunity to present their concerns and recommendations on the proposed amendment. The President, in turn, outlined the Government’s position and its wider plans for judicial reform.
President Dissanayake stressed that the administration of justice could not be considered the responsibility of the judiciary alone, but rather as an integrated process involving investigations, prosecutions and adjudication.
Against this backdrop, he said the Government was working to strengthen the human resources and institutional capacity of the Attorney General’s Department, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Sri Lanka Police and the Government Analyst’s Department.
The Government also plans to expand CIABOC services to the district level and increase the number of Court of Appeal judges. Steps are also being planned to provide the necessary infrastructure for the Court of Appeal to conduct proceedings regionally, making access to justice more convenient for the public.
The President further highlighted plans to increase the number of High Court judges while improving the physical infrastructure and facilities of courts across the country.
He said the proposed extension of the retirement age of judges was therefore only one element of a much broader programme aimed at addressing longstanding weaknesses throughout the justice system.
Importantly, President Dissanayake told the BASL representatives that the proposed amendment should not be interpreted as reflecting his personal position or that of the Government alone.
The remarks come amid growing debate over the Government’s move to amend the Constitution to change the retirement age of judges, with the BASL and other stakeholders raising concerns over the implications of the proposal for judicial independence and institutional confidence.
The BASL representatives told the President that they had no policy objection either to increasing the number of judges or to extending judges’ retirement age in principle.
However, they proposed that the decision to extend the retirement age be reconsidered to facilitate a broader consensus on the issue.
The meeting therefore underscored a central challenge facing the Government: balancing its stated objective of expanding judicial capacity and reducing delays in the courts with concerns raised by the legal profession over the manner and timing of the proposed constitutional change.
With the Government now moving ahead with its wider judicial reform agenda, the debate over the retirement age is likely to remain closely tied to the broader question of how Sri Lanka intends to modernise its justice system while maintaining public confidence in its independence and credibility.
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