News
Pre-Trial procedure to be introduced
View(s):The Cabinet has approved in principle the pre-trial law amendment which is to be introduced to the Civil Procedure Code.
The Justice Ministry appointed a Committee in October 2020 with the mandate to amend the most used procedural piece of legislation which is the
Civil Procedure Code, in respect of the pre-trial procedure. The committee formally completed its mandate on Wednesday
(27) when its Chairman Justice Dr Ruwan Fernando, handed over the final draft of the Pre-Trial Procedure Amendment along with its recommendations to
Justice Minister M U M Ali Sabry PC, at the Ministry premises.
Convener of the Committee, Nishan Premathiratne stated that the committee had emphasised in its recommendations that the Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) ought to bring both parties to the dispute, together, in order to explore possibilities of resolving the case without going into a full-blown trial.
The Committee is of the view that the PTC ought to provide the opportunity to the parties and the pre-trial Judge to sit on a less imposing platform and identify and agree upon facts, clarify the issues between the parties, and attempt to reach resolution by way of a voluntary agreement in respect of the matters to be established at the trial. The committee recommended exclusive Pre-Trial Court Conference rooms to be setup consisting of trained
pre-trial Judges in order
to make the proposed
Act more meaningful among stakeholders.
When preparing this Amendment, the Committee, with the assistance of the Ministry of Justice, sought opinion from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Attorney General’s Department and several judges presiding in civil courts, as well as civil practitioners in respect of potential amendments to the current pre-trial procedure.