Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2024-02-19 (Subject to Confirmation at the next Meeting)

Maintaining Records and conducting Proceedings in certain Courts in English Language

- Legal literature in the area of commerce is predominantly available in English and translating such materials into Sinhala is costly and time consuming. As a result, it takes a long period of time to settle commercial disputes thereby adversely affecting the attraction of investors. This situation has caused Sri lanka to be at a lower position in the ranking of the Ease of Doing Business. As a remedy to this situation, it has been identified that it would be appropriate to issue a directive by the Minister in charge of the subject of Justice permitting to use the English Language for all purposes in or in relation to the records and proceedings in the identified courts specified, as per the provisions of the Article 24(4) of the Constitution and upon the approval of the Cabinet. The proposal made by the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms to take necessary action accordingly, was approved by the Cabinet.