Lawyer requests CJ to abolish court vacation system

Lawyer Nagananda Kodituwakku has requested Chief Justice K. Sripavan to abolish the court vacation system to avoid legal delays.

Kodituwakku, a public interest litigation activist, said that a fact-finding study conducted by him had found that the present court vacation system was clearly a contributory factor to legal delays.

 In a letter to Sripavan, he explained how the court vacation system came into force under the 1906 Ordinance, which introduced provisions for the Establishment and Regulation of Vacations in the Supreme Court.

 “According to the Ordinance, this law proclaimed three vacations to be called respectively the Christmas vacation, the Easter vacation and the August vacation in each year to be observed by the Supreme Court,” he has noted in the letter.

 Kodituwakku has noted that the law, which was later revised in 1928 by the Supreme Courts Vacations Ordinance No. 2 of 1928, had declared the Christmas vacation from 22 December to 12 January, the Easter vacation for 23 days and the 12-day August vacation in each year to be observed by the Supreme Court.

 “I consider it is proper and right to make this request on behalf of fellow citizens, who suffer enormously due to the law’s delay,” he said in his letter.

He has also explained that the delay has become a major concern in the country making citizens suffer heavily in terms of costs, time and energy, due to delays in the dispensation of justice, with the entire court system being burdened with a heavy caseload.

Meanwhile, he claimed that the court vacation system was not permitted under the existing laws as in 1973 by the Administration of Justice Law No. 44 of 1973 the Supreme Court Vacation Ordinance was repealed and never replaced. (SS)