JUSTICE • ORIGINAL ANALYSIS • 20 SEPTEMBER 2026

Judicial reform needs scrutiny, consultation and clear safeguards

A government can legitimately pursue court efficiency. It must also explain how proposed structural changes protect judicial independence, avoid political advantage and respond to concerns raised by lawyers, opposition figures and civil society.

Opposition lawmakers and activists protested in Colombo on 3 September over proposed changes that would increase the retirement age of senior judges and expand the number of judges in the superior courts. Associated Press reported that critics described the proposal as a threat to judicial independence and complained that relevant stakeholders had not been adequately consulted.

The government has presented a different rationale: reducing court delays and improving judicial efficiency. That argument deserves to be considered on its merits. But reform of the judiciary is not an ordinary administrative change. The process itself needs transparency because public confidence depends not only on the final legal text, but also on how it is designed and who is consulted.

Questions Lanka Witness believes should be answered

What evidence shows that changing retirement ages will reduce delays? What modelling supports increasing the number of judges? Which judicial and professional bodies were consulted? What safeguards prevent any change from being used to influence the composition of the courts? And will the government publish the legal and policy reasoning before Parliament votes?

Those questions are not an accusation of improper motive. They are the normal questions that should accompany institutional reform in any democracy.

Judicial efficiency and judicial independence are not competing goals. A credible reform should protect both.

Lanka Witness will continue to distinguish between the government's stated objectives, the objections raised by critics and the evidence available to the public. If the government publishes further consultation material or legal analysis, that material should be added to the record.