August 11, Colombo (LNW): President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is due to meet representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) at 1.00 p.m. on August 11 as concerns continue to mount over a proposed increase in the retirement age of judges.
The discussion is expected to centre on the Government’s proposed Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution, which seeks to extend the tenure of senior members of the judiciary.
The draft legislation, gazetted on August 7, proposes raising the compulsory retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67. For judges of the Court of Appeal, the proposed retirement age would increase from 63 to 65.
Under the proposed changes, the Chief Justice would be required to retire either upon reaching 67 or after serving six years in the position, whichever occurs first.
The proposal has met strong resistance from the BASL, which has unanimously rejected the move. BASL President Rajeev Amarasuriya has said opposition to the changes extends across the legal profession and warned that altering the retirement framework could have wider implications for judicial independence.
Following a special general meeting held on July 29, Amarasuriya said lawyers who attended in person and those who joined virtually had voted against the proposal.
He also said concerns had been raised by members of the judiciary and argued that extending the retirement age without adequately addressing the views of the legal community could create difficulties for the independence and functioning of the courts.
The BASL has maintained that it has been objecting to the proposal for almost two months and has repeatedly sought an opportunity to present its concerns directly to the Government.
Amarasuriya has described the proposed constitutional change as ill-advised and said the association is prepared to pursue all available avenues to challenge it. He has also urged the Government to reconsider the proposal, stressing that decisions affecting the judiciary could have consequences extending well beyond the immediate issue of retirement ages.