The Speaker enforces the 22nd amendment after it was passed with all 158 government votes.

Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne today (25) certified the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill and the Judicature (Amendment) Bill. Following a lengthy debate held over two days, yesterday (24) and today, the third reading of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed with amendments by a special majority in the subsequent vote.

There, 158 votes were cast in favor of the bill, while only 63 votes were cast against it. No Member of Parliament abstained from voting, and accordingly, the relevant bill was passed in Parliament with a majority of 95 votes.

The twenty-second Constitutional Amendment, thus enacted, has raised the retirement age limits for senior judges in the country's judicial system. Accordingly, the retirement age for Supreme Court judges has been increased from 65 to 67 years, and for Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65 years. In addition, steps have been taken to increase the number of Court of Appeal judges from 19 to 24 by amending Article 137 of the Constitution. The main objective of this amendment is to expedite the resolution of pending cases and minimize the inconvenience caused to parties involved in cases who have to travel to Colombo, by establishing regional Courts of Appeal.

Furthermore, the Judicature (Amendment) Bill, passed by a majority vote in Parliament, has been enacted as the Judicature (Amendment) Act No. 23 of 2026. Under this new Act, the retirement age for High Court judges is extended from 61 to 63 years, and for District Judges and Magistrates from 60 to 62 years. Amendments made to Article 4 of the Judicature Act provide for increasing the maximum number of High Court judges from 110 to 120, enabling the establishment of additional provincial High Courts and provincial Civil Appellate High Courts.