Joint Opposition Convenor Professor G.L. Peiris has thrown down the gauntlet to the National People's Power government, demanding it substantiate its widely publicised assertion that raising the mandatory retirement ages of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges was a necessary step toward clearing the enormous backlog of pending cases in Sri Lanka's higher courts.
A Fraction of the Total Caseload
Prof. Peiris pointed out that cases held up before the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal account for only approximately one percent of the total 1.1 million cases currently pending across the country's judicial system. He argued that this statistic fundamentally undermines the government's justification for the controversial retirement age amendment, questioning whether such a legislative change could have any meaningful impact on the broader crisis of judicial delays.
"If the government's genuine concern is the backlog of cases burdening Sri Lankan citizens, they must explain why they are focusing on the apex courts when nearly the entire problem lies elsewhere in the system," Prof. Peiris said, pressing the administration to provide a credible, evidence-based rationale for its policy position.
Opposition Scrutiny Intensifies
The veteran politician and academic has consistently raised questions about the true motivations behind the NPP administration's push to extend the retirement ages of senior judges. Critics within the opposition have suggested that the move could have implications for judicial independence, raising concerns about potential executive influence over the composition of the country's highest courts.
Prof. Peiris urged the government to be transparent with the public and Parliament, stressing that sweeping constitutional or legislative changes affecting the judiciary must be anchored in demonstrable necessity rather than political convenience.
Broader Context of Judicial Delays
The issue of case backlogs has long plagued Sri Lanka's justice system, with millions of citizens waiting years — and in some instances, decades — for resolution of their legal matters. Successive governments have pledged reforms, yet the problem has persisted across all levels of the court hierarchy, from Magistrate's Courts to the highest judicial bodies in the land.
Legal analysts have previously noted that the bottleneck is most acute in the lower and intermediate courts, where the overwhelming majority of civil, criminal, and administrative cases are heard. The concentration of pending cases at those levels, they argue, is where targeted reform and resource allocation would yield the greatest benefit for ordinary Sri Lankans seeking justice.
The opposition's intervention is expected to intensify parliamentary debate on the retirement age amendment, with Prof. Peiris signalling that the Joint Opposition will continue to press the government for clear and accountable answers on the matter.
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GL is right, show us the proof. backlog didnt appear yesterday no?