G.L. Peiris to challenge judges’ tenure extension in Supreme Court
COLOMBO – Former Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said a fundamental rights petition would be filed in the Supreme Court next week challenging the government’s proposed constitutional amendment to extend the terms of office of judges.
Speaking to the media after meeting the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka at the British High Commission in Colombo on Wednesday (12), Peiris accused the government of disregarding widespread opposition to the proposed changes and proceeding with them arbitrarily.
He said the government had failed to adequately consider objections raised nationally and internationally, including a letter from the Mahanayake Theras opposing the move.
Peiris criticized the government for consulting stakeholders only after the Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution and the Judicature (Amendment) Bill had been gazetted.
He described the scheduled meeting between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) as futile, arguing that such consultations should have taken place before the proposed legislation was gazetted.
He said the two Bills were expected to be presented to Parliament next week for their first reading and that the petition would be filed once they were tabled.
Peiris alleged that the government was seeking to advance a political agenda through changes to the judicial structure and warned that the move could have serious consequences for democracy and judicial independence.
He also said the opposition would bring the issue to the attention of the international community, citing what he described as the close links between Sri Lanka’s legal system and that of the United Kingdom.
The Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution seeks to increase the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 and Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65. A separate amendment to the Judicature Act proposes extending the terms of judges of the High Court, District Courts and Magistrate’s Courts by two years.
-ENCL
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