# Sri Lanka to table Bill raising judges’ retirement age 2026-08-16T14:33:38+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Sri Lankan government will table the 22nd Amendment Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, seeking to raise the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 years and Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65 years. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the move aims to address a backlog of about 1.1 million pending cases and retain experienced judges. The Opposition, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, and civil society groups oppose the Bill, arguing it undermines judicial independence. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa questioned why the extension should apply to sitting judges. The BASL told President Anura Kumara Dissanayake the amendment would seriously impact judicial independence. President Dissanayake said the decision was taken in the broader public interest and is part of a wider judicial reform programme. UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite noted the amendment may not align with international standards on judicial independence and fair trial. ## Coverage - thehindu.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sajith Premadasa, Sri Lanka Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sri-lanka-to-table-bill-raising-judges-retirement-age/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sri-lanka-to-table-bill-raising-judges-retirement-age/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/