Chief Justice Murdu Fernando has submitted the names of four senior High Court judges to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to fill four existing vacancies in the Court of Appeal.
The nominees include Kandy High Court Judge Sumudu Premachandra, Colombo High Court Judge K. Priyantha Fernando, Trincomalee High Court Judge Prema Shankar, and Colombo Civil High Court Judge Frank Gunawardena. Their names have been forwarded to the President for consideration.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe has proposed the names of Senior Deputy Solicitors General Lakmali Karunanayake and Sudarshana de Silva from the Attorney General’s Department to be considered for the vacancies.
The President will review these nominations and select candidates deemed suitable for appointment to the Court of Appeal. The chosen names will then be forwarded to the Constitutional Council (CC) for approval. The CC is scheduled to convene next on February 5.
In a related development, we have learned that the President of the Court of Appeal, Nissanka Bandula Karunarathna, has proceeded on pre-retirement leave effective January 31. Before his departure, Justice Karunarathna held a farewell function on Friday to express gratitude to his staff.
With this vacancy, an acting president for the Court of Appeal is expected to be appointed soon.
