The United National Party has rejected the government's proposal to extend judges' retirement age, arguing that structural reforms rather than tenure changes are needed to address Sri Lanka's massive court backlog of 1.1 million cases.

The United National Party Working Committee has rejected a constitutional amendment proposal aimed at extending the retirement age of judges, contending that the measure would not resolve Sri Lanka's acute case backlog problem. The party issued a resolution stating that while reducing the estimated 1.1 million pending cases remains a national priority, extending judicial tenure represents an ineffective solution to the underlying challenges.

The UNP cited findings from an International Monetary Fund Governance Diagnostic Assessment, which was commissioned by the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration. According to the IMF report, the judicial system's delays stem primarily from structural and administrative deficiencies rather than insufficient judge numbers. The assessment documented significant operational challenges, including contract enforcement cases taking six to seven years to resolve and approximately 45,000 debt recovery cases languishing in the Colombo District Court, where each of the 10 judges manages roughly 2,000 cases annually.

The IMF recommendations diverged from the government's tenure extension proposal, instead suggesting the establishment of a specialised backlog court, administrative streamlining, enhanced judicial research capacity, expanded alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and procedural reforms to expedite case disposal. The UNP stated that the government's constitutional amendment justification lacked foundation given the IMF assessment's findings and recommendations.

The party called for parliamentary debate involving the Attorney General, judiciary representatives, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka before pursuing constitutional changes. The UNP urged the government to prioritise filling vacancies across the court system and reducing the backlog by 300,000 to 400,000 cases through comprehensive judicial reform. The Working Committee resolved that the proposed amendment should be suspended pending broader stakeholder consultation, after which the Justice Ministry should present an integrated reform framework.