Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2020-11-09

Amendment to the Judicature Act, No.2 of 1978

- The Special Committee appointed to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act and the Penal Code has recommended the appointment of "Recorder Judges to the High Court" and the conducting of pre-trial conference in High Courts.

Accordingly, the draft bill for amending the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No 15 of 1979 is being drafted at present, for the purpose of introducing the procedure for pre-trial conference.

Although it is possible to appoint a Recorder Judge to the Court to deal with all the pre-trial and post-trial matters, in terms of the provisions of the Judicature Act, No.2 of 1978, no appointments have been made so far, due to some technical issues in existence. Since the conduct of pre-trial and post-trial hearings is a judicial function, the relevant appointments should be made by the Judicial Service Commission from among the Judges presently serving. Further, it has been identified that it is appropriate to change the designation “ Recorder” in the Judicature Act as “Recorder Judge”. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Minister of Justice, to amend the Judicature Act, No.2 of 1978, incorporating the said provisions, was approved by the Cabinet.