Sri Lanka cabinet backs extending superior court judges' tenure

COLOMBO, Aug 4:  Sri Lanka's cabinet on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment that would extend superior court judges' tenure by two years, an official said, as the country seeks to clear a backlog of more than 1 million court cases and ease the pressure on its overcrowded prisons.
The move follows two recent prison riots that killed 31 people, including 10 prison officials, and injured dozens more. One prisoner died and nine inmates were injured in a riot on Saturday at Mahara prison, about 15 km (9 miles) from the commercial capital Colombo.
The two-pronged proposal will introduce a 22nd amendment to the constitution that will extend the tenure of Supreme Court, Appeals Court and High Court judges and of the Chief Justice by two years each, said cabinet spokesman NalindaJayatissa. The judges in these courts currently retire at 65, 63 and 61 respectively.
A separate draft bill, which also received cabinet approval, seeks to extend the tenure of district and magistrate judges by two years as well.
"The aim is to increase the efficiency of cases being heard and provide relief to the public, who often have to wait 12 or 20 years," Jayatissa told reporters at the weekly cabinet briefing, adding that the government also wanted to increase the number of courts and judges overall.
Sri Lanka's justice ministry has backed the constitutional changes as part of a wider effort to strengthen the judicial system and clear a backlog of 1.1 million pending court cases.�"REUTERS