The Supreme Court’s confidential determination on the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution is scheduled to be presented to Parliament by the Speaker on Tuesday, September 22, NewsFirst reported on Saturday afternoon.
The Speaker is expected to receive the determination the previous day, Monday, September 21. A party leaders’ meeting has been set for 9:00 a.m. on Monday to settle parliamentary business for the coming week, chaired by the Speaker.
The ruling party had previously announced that the 22nd Amendment and the Bill to amend the Judicature Act would be taken up for debate on the 24th and 25th.
The calendar is now fixed end to end
For the first time the whole sequence has dates attached:
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| Monday 21 September | Speaker receives the determination; party leaders meet at 9:00 a.m. |
| Tuesday 22 September | Determination tabled in Parliament |
| Thursday 24 – Friday 25 September | Two-day debate on 22A and the Judicature Act Bill |
That leaves two days between the House learning what the court decided and voting on the Bill it concerns. The determination settles how 22A can be passed at all — whether a simple majority suffices, or whether any clause found inconsistent with the Constitution forces a two-thirds majority, a referendum, or both.
This contradicts what a minister said the same morning
Hours earlier on Saturday, NewsFirst reported Minister Susil Ranasinghe saying the Supreme Court had already forwarded its determination to the Speaker, who would present it “next week.”
The afternoon filing says the Speaker is expected to receive it on Monday. Both accounts came from the same outlet on the same day, and they cannot both describe the current position: either the document is with the Speaker or it arrives on the 21st.
The later report is the more procedurally specific of the two — it names the receipt date, the tabling date and the party leaders’ meeting — and Ranasinghe, who holds the housing, construction and water supply portfolio, was speaking to reporters after an event in Anuradhapura rather than on the record for the Speaker’s office. Neither the Speaker’s office nor the court has publicly confirmed either version.
Still confidential
Until the Speaker announces it to the House, the determination’s contents are known to no one outside the court — not the petitioners, not the Government. The five-judge bench concluded its hearing on September 2 and announced then that its ruling would go to the Speaker confidentially.
The Bill would raise the retirement age of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges, and drew the largest volume of petitions ever brought against a constitutional amendment in Sri Lanka. The Opposition has demanded a referendum and the SJB is pressing for stronger protest action ahead of the debate.
Not reported
NewsFirst does not say who set the September 22 date, or whether the full text of the determination will be published rather than summarised to the House. It does not say whether the determination covers both Bills or only the 22nd Amendment, despite the September 2 bench having heard petitions against both.
It gives no source for the timetable — neither the Speaker’s office nor the Supreme Court is quoted — and does not address the conflict with the morning’s account of where the document already sits.
