Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-12-19

Making it mandatory to conduct trials daily in the High Court

- The proviso to section 263(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No.15 of 1979 states that every trial in the High Court with or without a jury, shall as far as practicable, be held daily. However, trials are not so held daily and therefore, it has resulted in an enormous backlog of cases in the High Court. By September 2017, the total number of cases pending in the High Courts was 17,565. Since the delay in the administration of justice results in bringing about adverse consequences, it is necessary to remedy this situation expeditiously.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. (Mrs.) Thalatha Atukorala, the Minister of Justice, to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, making provisions to make it mandatory to conduct trials in the High Court daily, except in exceptional circumstances and for justifiable reasons sufficient to be recorded, was approved by the Cabinet.