{
  "id": 10320140,
  "title": "The 22nd Amendment, constitutional recovery and illiberal slippage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/the-22nd-amendment-constitutional-recovery-and-illiberal-slippage",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-27T23:58:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Island Sri Lanka",
    "slug": "the-island-sri-lanka",
    "url": "http://island.lk/the-22nd-amendment-constitutional-recovery-and-illiberal-slippage/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 22nd Amendment to Sri Lanka's Constitution, enacted following the 2024 political transition, represents both a restoration of democracy and a constitutional recovery. This amendment includes three key policy changes: raising the retirement age for superior court judges by two years, expanding the Court of Appeal by four judges, and capping the Chief Justice's term at six years. The expansion of the Court of Appeal aims to enable court sessions outside Colombo.\n\nWhile the amendment may signal a significant paradigm shift in the country's political landscape, questions remain about the prioritization of these reforms. The process was criticized for lacking transparency and public consultation, and the move was perceived as re-emerging old political tactics. The absence of bipartisan consensus and the lack of a clear rationale for selecting these reforms over others raise concerns about the independence of the judiciary and the effectiveness of the reform.\n\nThe amendment's implementation coincides with the completion of two years of the current government's term, coinciding with a surge in corruption cases, improvements in government transparency, and an increased role for the President's Fund. However, these changes are still too early to evaluate their long-term impact on Sri Lanka's democratic transition and constitutional recovery.",
  "summary": "by Dinesha Samararatne Professor, Dept. of Public & International Law, Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo and was an independent member of Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Council (Jan. 2023 to Jan. 2026). Sri Lanka’s political transition in 2024 was widely regarded as restoration of democracy, a reversal of authoritarian rule and an opportunity for […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}