Bill to increase number of high court judges from 75 to 85

The Government today introduced an amendment to the Judicature Act to increase the number of r of high court judges from 75 to 85.

The amendment Bill was introduced by Minister of Justice Talata Atukorala. The amendment was approved by Cabinet in May last year when it was presented by the former Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha.

He informed in the Cabinet proposal that since there is an enormous backlog of cases pending in the courts of justice of the island, appropriate measures have to be adopted expeditiously to eliminate them.

 As at March 2017, the number of cases pending in the Civil Appellate High Courts was 5749, in the Commercial High Courts, it was 5580 and as at March 2017, the number of cases pending in the High Courts was 16,574, and the number of judges serving in the courts at present to resolve these cases is only 75.

The amendment to the Judicature Act is to enable the increase of the present approved cadre of 75 High Court Judges up to 85, to expedite the cases pending at present, was approved by the Cabinet.