President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is to meet representatives of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) on Wednesday to discuss the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age of judges.

The meeting is set for 1.00 p.m. and follows an invitation extended by the President, the President’s Media Division said in remarks reported by NewsFirst.

It will be the first direct engagement between the President and the country’s principal lawyers’ body since the BASL began pressing for a hearing on the measure more than a fortnight ago. The association had already set out its position to the President in writing, the Daily Mirror reported.

What the amendment would do

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill was published in the government gazette on August 7 under the direction of Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.

It would raise the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 and that of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65. The Chief Justice would retire on reaching 67 or after six years in office, whichever comes first.

Because those limits are written into the Constitution, the change requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

An audience the BASL has sought for weeks

The association has opposed the proposal since it emerged. At a special general meeting on July 29, the BASL unanimously adopted seven resolutions against the amendment, with President Rajeev Amarasuriya saying the entire legal profession was against the move and warning that it could seriously affect judicial independence.

Amarasuriya led a delegation to Nanayakkara after that meeting and asked for the opportunity to put the association’s concerns to the President directly. Cabinet approved the bill on August 4 regardless.

The lack of access had itself become a point of criticism. At a media briefing in Colombo on Monday, former Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said the BASL, which represents about 26,000 lawyers, had sought a meeting with the President and had not been granted one — and that its meeting with the Justice Minister was granted only after Cabinet had already decided the matter.

Objections have also come from the Mahanayake Theras of the four Buddhist chapters, who wrote to the President, and from the International Association of Judges, which urged the government to reconsider.

Update — government confirms it received the prelates’ letter and met them

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa confirmed on Tuesday that the President had received the Chief Prelates’ letter opposing the amendment, and said the government had decided to take the matter up with them directly.

After considering the contents of the letter and other factors, the government chose to discuss the issue with the Mahanayake Theras rather than respond in writing, Jayatissa said at the weekly Cabinet media briefing at the Department of Government Information.

He said that on the President’s instructions he and Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara had met the Chief Prelates to explain the proposed amendment.

The confirmation follows the government’s earlier response to the letter, when Nanayakkara said on August 4 that the Mahanayake Theras had received wrong information about the measure.

Sources