Introduction to Sri Lanka Judges' Institute

About the SLJI

The Sri Lanka Judges' Institute was established by Act of Parliament No. 46 of 1985 certified on the 20th of November, 1985. 1st Director was formally appointed with effect from 1st January, 1986.

Managed by a board of Management comprising of the Chief Justice, Chairman, (ex-officio) and two appointed Members, generally the two most senior Judges of the Supreme Court.

Contact Information

About Our Judiciary

• Population of Country:

  Population (2007 est.): 20,926,315 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 17.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 19.5/1000; life expectancy: 74.8; density per sq mi: 809

  More about Sri Lanka

• Total Number of Judges: 183

•  Judges per 100,000 people: (1.4) (Source: Transparency International, Global Corruption Report, 2007)

• Number of Supreme Court Judges (2009): 10 with Chief Justice as at 10th June 2009 *

   

  1. Chief Justice Hon J.A.N. de Silva

  2. Hon. Dr. Shirani A Bandaranayake

  3. Hon. Shiranee Tilakawardene

  4. Hon. RA.N. Gamini Amaratunga

  5. Hon. Saleem Masoof P.C

  6. Hon. D.J. de S. Balapatabendi

  7. Hon. K. Sripavan

  8. Hon. P.A. Ratnayake P.C.

  9. Hon. Chandra Ekanayake

  10. Hon. S.I. Imam

• Number of Appeal Court Judges (2009): 12 with President as at 25th March 2009 *

   

  1. Hon. S. Hettige - President of the Court of Appeal

  2. Hon. S. Sriskandaraj

  3. Hon. W.LR. Silva

  4. Hon. Sisira De Abrew

  5. Hon. Eric Basnayake

  6. Hon. Rohini Marasinghe

  7. Hon. Sarath de Abrew

  8. Hon. Anil Gooneratne

  9. Hon. A.W.A. Salam

  10. Hon. Upali Aberatna

  11. Hon. D.C.S. Lecamwasam

  12. Hon. K.T. Chitrasiri

• Number of High Court Judges: 55.  as at 25th March 2009 *

                                                                                                                                                                   *   - Source : Director SLJTI -

• Number of Subordinate Court Judges: 169 (List of District Judges and Magistrates); as at 5th May 2009

• Salaries and Benefits

  	Chief Justice Salary	Supreme Court Judge's Salary	Appeal Court President's Salary	Appeal Court Judge's Salary
  Basic Salary	70,000.00	65,000.00	65,000.00	65,000.00
  Rent Allowance	12,000.00	12,000.00	12,000.00	12,000.00
  Personal Allowance	7,500.00	6,000.00	6,000.00	5,000.00
  Entertainment Allowance	1,750.00	1,500.00	1,500.00	1,250.00
  Special Allowance	15,000.00	15,000.00	15,000.00	15,000.00
  Cost of Living	1,750.00	1,750.00	1,750.00	1,750.00
  Gross Salary	108,000.00	101,250.00	101,250.00	98,500.00

  Judges Salary Scale
  High Court Judge
  Rs.54,285.00 - (Rs.1,310.00*7) - Rs.63,455.00
  Subordinate Court Judges:
  Special Class - Rs.50,365.00 - (Rs.1,050.00*3) - Rs.53,515.00
  Class I Grade I - Rs.46,165.00 - (Rs.1,050.00*3) - Rs.49,315.00
  Class I Grade II - Rs.39,865.00 - (Rs.1,050.00*5) - Rs.45,115.00
  Class II Grade I - Rs.34,335.00 - (Rs.790.00*6) - Rs.39,075.00
  

  Salaries and Benefits such as-

  Salary	Supreme Court Judges	Appeal Court Judges	H/C Judges	S/C Judges
  Home/Housing Allowance	-	-	-	-
  Free Telephone	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited
  Free Electricity	No	No	No	No
  Housing and property loans & grants	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Income Tax	No	No	No	No
  Expense Allowance	No	No	No	No
  Car allowance	Car Provided	Car Provided	Car Provided	Car Provided
  Driver Allowance	Drive Provided	Drive Provided	Drive Provided	Drive Provided
  Fuel Allowance	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Special Judicial allowance	Rs.15, 000.00	Rs.15,000.00	-	-
  Appeal Allowance	No	No	No	No
  Convincing Allowance if no vehicle provided	-	­-	-	-
  No Vehicle in provide	One	One	One	One
  Cost of living allowance	Rs.1,750.00	Rs.1,750.00	-	-
  Pension	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Medical	No	No	No	No
  Servant	No	No	No	No
  Security	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

   

• Methodology of Determining Judicial Salaries: As decided by the Government.

• Method of Judicial Appointment: Recruitment to Magistracy by competitive Examinations and viva voce Testing by the Judicial Service Commission. Thereafter promotion by seniority to higher posts.

National Judicial Education Objectives

1. to provide facilities for the exchange of views and ideas on judicial and legal matters by judicial officers;
2. to organize and hold meetings, conferences, lectures, workshops and seminars with a view to improving the professional expertise of judicial officers and advancing their  knowledge and skills;
3. to formulate and conduct training and research courses in various aspects of the administration of justice;
4. to provide library facilities and other educational material for judicial officers.

Training and Support Staff

Staff of five comprising of

• Hon. Justice N.K. Udalagama, Director, Retired Judge of the Supreme Court,

• Hon. Justice P.H.K. Kulatilaka, Retired Judge of the Court Appeal,

• Mr. P. Neville A. de Silva, Secretary, Retired Courts Registrar Grade I / Secretary to the Chief Justice,

• Mr. E.Sepala Karunaratne, Office Aide,

• Mr. G.W. Ranjith, Driver,

SLJI Standards

Functions and Supporting Organizational Structure

Budget / Sources of Funding

Annual Budget in respect of the Year

2006 ¨C Rs.2,650,000.00

2007 ¨C Rs.1,446,000.00 + a Capital expenditure Budget of Rs.140,000.00

Annual budget of judiciary is US$21.0 million. This is 2.6 percentage of the total annual budget. (Source: Transparency International, Global Corruption Report, 2007)

Annual Reports

• 2006 [DOC]

• 2007 [PDF]