Church of Ceylon urges Govt. to withdraw proposed judicial retirement age amendment

The Church of Ceylon has urged the Government to withdraw its proposed constitutional amendment to raise the retirement age of appellate court judges, warning that the move would undermine the Rule of Law and erode public confidence in the independence of the judiciary.

In a statement signed by Bishop of Colombo, the Right Reverend Dushantha Rodrigo, and Bishop of Kurunegala, the Right Reverend Nishantha Fernando, the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka expressed "concern and disappointment" over the Cabinet's decision to proceed with the amendment.

The Church said it had hoped that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Cabinet would heed the concerns raised by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the wider legal community and civil society, which had cautioned against the proposal on the grounds that it could compromise the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.

Questioning the Government's justification that the amendment was intended to expedite the disposal of pending cases, the Church noted that numerous vacancies in the appellate courts remained unfilled "for reasons that have no rational or principled explanation."

"In these circumstances, we can only conclude that the real motivation for this amendment lacks bona fides," the statement said.

The Church also criticised the Government for failing to pursue broader constitutional reforms that it had long advocated, including the abolition of the Executive Presidency, electoral reforms to improve accountability and inclusion, the strengthening of independent institutions and the Bill of Rights, and measures to address the grievances of minority communities.

It said that despite pre-election commitments, the National People's Power (NPP) Government had taken no meaningful steps to initiate a comprehensive constitutional reform process through broad public consultation.

Instead, the Government had chosen to pursue a constitutional amendment on an issue that had not featured prominently in recent constitutional reform debates or during the last Presidential and Parliamentary election campaigns, the Church said, arguing that such a move lacked both "moral legitimacy and constitutional propriety."

The statement further called on the leadership of the executive, legislature and judiciary to reflect on the reasons behind what it described as a "sudden, ad hoc and ad hominem" constitutional amendment.

The Church said successive governments had often championed the importance of independent institutions while in Opposition, only to pursue policies serving "executive convenience and self-interest" once in office.

Describing this as a "politics of opportunism," the Church warned that it had fostered widespread public cynicism towards the country's political leadership.

Calling for the immediate withdrawal of the proposal, the Church urged Parliament to uphold its constitutional responsibility of checking the executive and appealed to the judiciary to remain mindful of the damage the amendment could inflict on its reputation and the Rule of Law.