Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Thursday (September 24, 2026) commenced a two-day debate on the controversial 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which seeks to raise the retirement age of judges.
Opening the debate, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the move to extend the retirement age of judges was to make the delivery of justice more efficient. “We are not bringing this amendment to be authoritarian to control or suppress the independence of the judiciary,” he said.
The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) staged a protest near Parliament, calling on the government to withdraw the proposed amendment. Several thousand supporters of the SJB attended the protest. The Opposition challenged the government to hold a referendum to enact the amendment.
The amendment was presented to Parliament by Nanayakkara on August 18. It seeks to raise the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 years and that of Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65. It also proposes increasing the number of judges in the appellate court from 20 to 25. The National People’s Power government in Sri Lanka, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament, with 159 seats.
The main argument in the petitions is 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, according to several opposition figures.
Addressing the protesters, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said it was an “attempt to lead this country towards a single-party state.
