JSA Unanimously Opposes Extension of Retirement Age for Judges, Citing Impact on Judicial Independence and Career Advancement

By: Isuru Parakrama

July 26, Colombo (LNW): The Judicial Service Association (JSA) of Sri Lanka has formally notified the Minister of Justice and National Integration, Harshana Nanayakkara, of its unanimous opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend the retirement age of judges, warning that the move will adversely affect judicial independence and career progression.

The JSA, representing the country’s District Judges and Magistrates, resolved unanimously by secret ballot during a Special General Meeting on July 11, 2026, to reject the extension across all judicial levels.

Following a directive by the Cabinet for the Ministry of Justice to review the proposal, the JSA’s Special Executive Committee met on July 18, 2026, to submit its detailed observations.

According to the official document signed by JSA President Chamara Wickramanayaka and Secretary Suranga Munasinghe, the association’s primary concerns include:

• Complete Stagnation of Promotions: For two years following the amendment, promotions to higher courts or grades would freeze entirely across the judiciary—from Magistrates up to the Supreme Court—unless a vacancy arises through death, resignation, or disciplinary removal.
• Increased Delay to Reach the High Court: The time required for a judicial officer to be promoted to the High Court has already expanded from around 12 years to at least 17 years over the past decade. The proposed change would immediately add another two years to this period.
• Growing Imbalance with the Attorney General’s Department: While career judicial officers would face further promotion delays, Senior State Counsel in the Attorney General’s Department can qualify for High Court appointments in roughly 15 years. This imbalance threatens to eliminate the small (~20 per cent) opportunity career judges currently have to reach the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
• Decline in Professional Motivation: Creating a work environment stripped of promotion prospects risks severely degrading career motivation, professional commitment, healthy competition, and overall service efficiency.
• Reduced Attraction for Young Legal Talent: Waiting over two decades—often while serving in difficult regional postings—to reach the High Court will deter talented young lawyers from entering the judicial service, ultimately lowering the quality of the bench.
• Legal and Administrative Complications in Public Sector: Extending the retirement age of judicial officers would require amending specific ordinances, creating severe disparities among nearly two million public servants governed by the same legal frameworks and potentially halting new public sector recruitment for two years.
• Erosion of Public Trust and Political Controversies: Subjecting judicial structural changes to political debate and organised social media campaigns degrades the reputation of the judicial system and undermines public confidence in its independence.

The JSA emphasised that trial delays are not caused by a shortage of specialised judges or brain drain, but rather by a nearly 40 per cent vacancy rate in support staff and severe deficiencies in court buildings and infrastructure.

The association maintained that appointing new judges, establishing additional courts, and upgrading infrastructure are the true solutions to expediting justice.

Reaffirming a stance it has maintained since 2015, the JSA called on the government to halt the proposed constitutional amendment to preserve the dignity, independence, and credibility of the judiciary.

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