MONETABRIEF – Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers had approved publishing in the government gazette a draft constitutional amendment that will raise the retirement age of Supreme Court judges, spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said.
The move to change the retirement age has come under fire as a ruse to block the next in line for chief justice.
Minister Jayatissa said the move was not targeted at a single person but was in line with global trends.
In many countries including the UK and South Africa, the retirement age has been raised in part due to the increasing life expectancy, he said.
Another move was to retain people with expertise in state service.
Cabinet had also approved legal changes which will allow remand prisoner to be kept under house arrest to reduce over-crowding in prisons.
Sri Lanka saw two prison riots in recent week which led to the deaths of prisoners and jailors. (Colombo/Aug04/2026)