President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that unfilled vacancies in Sri Lanka’s superior courts are tied to the progress of the Easter Sunday attacks trial, and has committed to completing the appointments within about a month.
“I will complete that process within about a month. That is a definite commitment,” the President said, responding to concerns over the delay.
The judge on the Trial-at-Bar
Dissanayake said the Easter Sunday case is among the most complex matters before the courts, carrying around 23,000 charges and nearly 3,000 witnesses. The most senior judge now serving in the High Court is sitting on that Trial-at-Bar — and is next in line for elevation to the Court of Appeal.
“He is next in line for promotion to the Court of Appeal. When I looked into the matter, I found that the case is now in its final stages,” he said.
Moving the judge up would carry consequences for the trial, the President said, while holding him back raises a question of fairness to the judge himself.
“If we are to appoint him to the Court of Appeal, you know what impact that would have on the case. On the other hand, if we delay his promotion, we must also consider whether it would be unfair to him to continue serving on a special trial while his career progression remains on hold.”
Why the Court of Appeal is the bottleneck
Asked why the same reasoning does not apply to elevations from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, the President said he had examined that separately and found different circumstances. The number of Supreme Court judges has fallen gradually over time, he said, but the sharper staffing pressure sits at the Court of Appeal.
“After comparing the two situations, I concluded that it would not be appropriate to transfer a group of judges from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court while leaving vacancies in the Court of Appeal.”
Rejecting the “waiting game” claim
Dissanayake pushed back on suggestions that the vacancies had been left open until a particular individual became eligible.
“I want to state very honestly that I did not leave these vacancies open while waiting for a particular individual to retire or become eligible for appointment,” he said. “These vacancies remained because of the Easter Sunday attacks case, which is of enormous importance to society. My only objective was to ensure fairness in relation to that matter.”
The remarks land in the middle of a sustained dispute over the government’s proposed 22nd Amendment, which would raise judges’ retirement ages. The President met a Bar Association delegation this week over that proposal, and opposition MPs had earlier written to the Speaker about the unfilled Supreme Court seats.
