Sri Lanka adopts controversial amendment raising judges’ retirement age

Sri Lanka on Friday (September 25, 2026) adopted the controversial 22nd Amendment to the Constitution which raises the retirement age of judges, despite protests by the opposition.

The amendment raises the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 years and that of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65. It was approved with a two-thirds majority, with 158 members voting for it and 63 against, at the end of the two-day debate.

Speaking on behalf of the government, senior Minister Bimal Ratnayake said the amendment was purely meant to reform the judiciary to ensure swift delivery of justice. “This is not an amendment to extend the life of parliament or to extend the terms of presidents as happened before,” he said.

“We do not want this to keep a stronghold of government as falsely accused by the opposition,” Mr. Ratnayake stressed.

Sri Lanka has a judicial backlog of an estimated 1.1 million cases.

The main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said the amendment was clearly meant to undermine the independence of the judiciary. “This would put democracy seriously under threat,” he said. Members of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya attended parliament in black attire to protest the move.

The amendment was adopted despite months-long protests from opposition parties and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, which argued it would undermine judicial independence.

The Opposition also challenged the government to hold a referendum to enact the amendment.

According to several opposition figures, the main argument in several petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the amendment was that the 22A infringes Article 3 of the Constitution, which relates to the sovereignty of the people, and therefore requires approval through a nationwide referendum in addition to a two-thirds majority in Parliament.