The Supreme Court’s determination on the Government’s proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution is expected to be placed before Parliament by the Speaker during the sitting week that began on Tuesday, September 8, Hiru News reported.
The report attributes the timing to unnamed reports rather than to the Speaker’s office or the court, and does not name a day. Parliament sits from Tuesday until Friday, September 11.
Once the Speaker receives the determination, it is announced to the House. Until that moment the ruling is confidential — neither the petitioners nor the Government are told what it says.
What the court has already decided
The five-judge bench concluded its consideration of the petitions after two days of argument, with Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena announcing that the court’s determination on the Bill’s constitutionality would be communicated confidentially to the Speaker. The bench directed all parties to file written submissions by 3.00 p.m. the following day.
A record 67 petitions were filed against the Bill — the largest number ever brought against a constitutional amendment in Sri Lanka.
The Bill would raise the retirement age of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka opposed it and refused to file written submissions after being denied an oral right of reply.
A discrepancy in the dates
Hiru places the court’s announcement that its determination would go to the Speaker on the 3rd. Ada Derana and NewsFirst, in reporting the same hearing at the time, recorded Chief Justice Surasena making that announcement as the bench rose on Wednesday, September 2, with written submissions then due at 3.00 p.m. on Thursday the 3rd.
The two accounts may be describing different moments — the announcement in open court, and the point at which the record closed once submissions were in — but no outlet reconciles them.
What turns on the answer
The determination decides how the Bill can be passed. If the court finds any clause inconsistent with the Constitution, the Bill may require a two-thirds majority, a referendum, or both.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has grounded his demand for a referendum in articles 3, 4 and 83 — article 83 being the entrenchment clause that requires a referendum for any Bill inconsistent with article 3, the sovereignty of the people. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said the amendment will be approved by Parliament soon after the court communicates its determination, and has vowed not to reverse it.
A separate petition was filed last week over the court’s alleged failure to hear one challenge, and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association has raised concerns about the composition of the bench.
The same sitting week
The determination is expected in the week Parliament also sits with Namal Rajapaksa attending from remand custody, under an escort arranged with the Department of Prisons.
Not reported
No outlet says which day the determination will be tabled, whether the Speaker has already received it, or whether the court’s full text will be published rather than summarised to the House. None reports whether the Government has scheduled the Bill’s second reading for this sitting week, and no source in the report is named.
