Gazette issued to increase retirement age of High Court Judges

The Bill to amend the Judicature Act No. 2 of 1978 and increase the retirement age of High Court judges from 61 to 63 was gazetted on Friday.

The Bill also proposes increasing the maximum number of High Court judges from 110 to 120.

Additionally, the retirement age of all other Judges and Magistrates has been raised to 62, overriding the provisions of the Public and Judicial Officers (Retirement) Ordinance.

Context

This follows the gazetting of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which seeks to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges.

Despite strong opposition from political parties and several bodies representing the judiciary and legal fraternity—particularly regarding the 22nd Amendment—the government pushed ahead with the Bills, arguing that retaining experienced senior judges is essential to clearing a massive backlog of cases.

The government has previously stated that over 1.1 million cases remain pending across the island’s court system.