Cabinet approves Pre-Trial law amendment in principle

Chairman of the Committee Justice Dr. Ruwan Fernando presented the Draft Act to Minister of Justice M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC on 27 October. From left: Vikum Jayasinghe AAL, Ruwanadini Kuruppu AAL, Kaushalya Nawarathna, AAL, Shamir Zavahir AAL, Nishan Premathiratne AAL, Minister of Justice M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC, Justice Dr. Ruwan Fernando – Judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice Mayadunne Corea – Judge of the Court of Appeal, District Judge Aruna Aluthge and District Judge Chandani Dias 

• With concept of ‘Pre-Trial conferencing’ to facilitate expeditious civil litigation

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved in principle the Pre-Trial law amendment which is to be introduced to the Civil Procedure Code. 

The Ministry of Justice appointed a Committee in October 2020 with the mandate to amend the most used procedural piece of legislation which is the Civil Procedure Code, in respect of the Pre-Trial Procedure. Last Wednesday (27 October) marked the formal completion of its mandate when the Chairman of the Committee Justice Dr. Ruwan Fernando handed over the Final draft of the Pre-Trial Procedure Amendment along with its recommendations to the Minister of Justice M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC, at the Ministry premises. 

Convener of the Committee Nishan Premathiratne stated that the committee had emphasised in its recommendations that the Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) ought to bring both parties to the dispute, together, in order to explore possibilities of resolving the case without going into a full-blown Trial. 

The Committee also had been of the view that the PTC ought to provide the opportunity to the parties and the Pre-Trial Judge to sit on a less imposing platform and identify and agree upon facts; clarify the issues between the parties and attempt to reach resolution by way of a voluntary agreement in respect of the matters to be established at the Trial. 

Going forward the committee had recommended for, exclusive Pre-Trial Court Conference rooms to be setup consisting of trained Pre-Trial Judges in order to make the proposed Act more meaningful among all stakeholders.

When preparing this Amendment, the Committee, with the assistance of the Ministry of Justice, sort opinion from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Attorney General’s Department and several judges presiding in civil courts as well as several civil practitioners in respect of potential amendments to the current Pre-Trial procedure.

The report handed over to the Minister highlighted few key areas of the proposed amendment such as the introduction of three new chapters which will impose strict timelines and clearly mentions the steps which are to be taken in the course of the Pre-Trial. 

A significant feature is the introduction of the ‘Pre-Trial Conference’ concept where it is encouraged for an inquisitorial rather than the adversarial setting in litigation and the Judge to play an important role. As per the proposed draft, the Judge is also specifically mandated to attempt to settle a civil matter upon discussion with the parties. Specific recognition is also given for electronic documents and its admissibility. 

Furthermore, this amendment intends the parties to agree on the number of witness and documents as well as the court dates required, which streamlines the entire process and saves time at the instant of the Trail. This Pre-Trial procedure will act across the board in respect of all forms of civil litigation proceedings under the Civil Procedure Code inter alia land matters, debt recovery, damages, insurance disputes, etc. in the District Court in addition to civil litigation in the Commercial High Court including Intellectual Property Law matters.

This amendment is introduced as a part of the broader initiative by the Ministry of Justice to bring in legislative amendments to reduce the law’s delays. 

The Committee appointed by the Ministry of Justice, comprised Justice Dr. Ruwan Fernando – Judge of the Court of Appeal (Chairman) and Nishan Sydney Premathiratne, Attorney-at-Law as the Convener. The other distinguished members of the Committee comprised Justice Mayadunne Corea – Judge of the Court of Appeal, High Court Judge Lakmal Wickramasooriya, High Court Judge R. L. Godawela, District Judge Aruna Aluthge, District Judge Chandani Dias, Kaushalya Nawarathna, Attorney-at-Law, Milinda Pathirana, Attorney-at-Law, Chandima Muthukumarana, Attorney-at-Law, Lasitha Kanuwanaarachchi, Attorney-at-Law, Rasika Dissanayake, Attorney-at-Law, Ruwantha Cooray, Attorney-at-Law, Nuwan de Alwis, Attorney-at-Law, and Ruwanadini Kuruppu – Assistant Secretary (Legal), Ministry of Justice along with the research assistants Vikum Jayasinghe, Attorney-at-Law, Sajana de Zoysa and Narthana Wevita.