The false propaganda spread by the opposition regarding government deliberations on extending the retirement age of superior and primary court judges has backfired, as past official recommendations have come to light.
During the Ranil-Maithripala administration, a special committee was established to examine this issue. On November 19, 2016, six sub-committees were formed under the Constitutional Council, including a dedicated sub-committee to look into the judicial sector.
That sub-committee recommended:
Setting the retirement age for judges in all courts to 65 years.
Extending the retirement age of Superior Court judges to 70 years to ensure necessary experience is imparted to newly recruited primary court judges.
However, these recommendations were never implemented, leading to an unsustainable backlog of cases in the court system. As the current government takes scientific steps to resolve this backlog, the opposition continues to circulate misleading claims despite their own past policy proposals.
