| Post: | Chief Justice |
| Body: | Sri Lanka |
| Native Name: | Sinhala; Sinhalese: අග්ර විනිශ්චයකාර Tamil: பிரதம நீதியரசர் |
| Insigniasize: | 150px |
| Incumbent: | Jayantha Jayasuriya |
| Incumbentsince: | 29 April 2019 |
| Style: | The Honourable Justice/His Lordship |
| Nominator: | The President |
| Appointer: | The President |
| Appointer Qualified: | with Constitutional Council advice and consent |
| Termlength: | Until the age of sixty-five years |
| Constituting Instrument: | Royal Charter of Justice of 1801 in reference with the Constitution of Sri Lanka. |
| Formation: | March 1801 |
| First: | Codrington Edmund Carrington |
The chief justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the chief justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are the puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The post was created in 1801. The chief justice is nominated by the Constitutional Council, and appointed by the president. The first chief justice was Codrington Edmund Carrington. The 47th and current chief justice is Jayantha Jayasuriya.
The office of chief justice traces its origins back with the founding the Royal Charter of Justice of 1801 (now this provision is as set out in the Constitution of Sri Lanka) by the United Kingdom. With the establishment of the Supreme Court, it was to consist of one principal judge who shall be called "The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Island of Ceylon" and one other judge, who was to be called "The Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Island of Ceylon". The charter required the chief justice and puisne justice to have not less than five years of experience as barristers, in England or Ireland to be named and appointed.
The post was first held by Codrington Edmund Carrington.[1]
The chief justice serves as chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which consist of two judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the president of the republic. The mission of the JSC is to accelerate the development of the nation by ensuring prompt and equal protection of the law to every citizen through providing infrastructure services required for administration of justice, safeguarding the independence of judges and maintaining proper human resources management in the support staffs in court. Other duties of the chief justice include nominating judges, as may be necessary, to each such high court. Every judge shall be transferable by the chief justice.[5]
Since its inception in the early nineteenth century, the chief justice was the second in line as the officer administrating the colony of Ceylon in the absence of the governor of Ceylon and the chief secretary of the colony; discharging the duties of Acting Governor of Ceylon. Following Ceylon gaining self-rule in 1948, the chief justice became the first in line as the officer administrating the government in the absence of the governor general of Ceylon serving as the acting governor general of Ceylon. This practice continued after the republican constitution was adopted in 1972 and the Dominion of Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka, with the chief justice serving as acting president during the absence of the president of Sri Lanka. This capacity ceased with the second amendment to the republican constitution in 1978, when the executive presidency was established and order of succession defined.[6]
The chief justice is ranked fourth in the order of precedence after the president, prime minister and the speaker of the Parliament. From 1948 to 1978 the speaker ranked third in the precedence after the governor general/president and the prime minister. After the second amendment to the republican constitution in 1978, in which the chief justice was removed from the presidential line of succession; the chief justice gained his current position in the order of precedence.[6]
In 2016, the chief justice received a salary of Rs. 145,000 per month and an annual increment of Rs 7,250.[7] In addition, the chief justice can use the Chief Justice's House in Colombo and is entitled to an official vehicle, usually a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and security provided from the Judicial Security Division of the Sri Lanka Police. On retirement the chief justice is entitled to a pension and his wife and children are entitled to a W&OP entitlement under the Widows Widowers & Orphans Pension Act. As with other government department heads the chief justice his entitled to take ownership of the official vehicle he used in his tenure or the highest grade duty free permit to import a vehicle for use in retirement. As with other judges of the Supreme Court, a former chief justice is bared from taking up a legal practice in the retirement.
The chief justice like other supreme court judges wear scarlet gowns when attending court. On ceremonial occasions (such as ceremonial sittings of the Supreme Court) they would wear a scarlet gown, barrister's bands and mantle and a long wig.
Data based on:
From times to time, sometimes during an interegum, there have been provisional and acting chief justices. These have included:
| Name | Province | Term | Elevated by | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Alexander Johnston §[9] | 3 April 1806 - 5 April 1807 | ||||
| Sir William Coke§ | 6 March 1809 - 1811 | ||||
| Sir Charles Marshall | 18 February 1833 - 1836 | ||||
| 7 | Sir William Rough | 9 March 1836 - April 1836 | |||
| 9 | Sir William Rough | April 1837 - 1838 | |||
| P. J. Sterling | 1859 - 1860 | ||||
| Sir Richard Morgan | 1875 | William Henry Gregory | |||
| C. H. Stewart | 1875 - 1876 | ||||
| Sir George Anderson | 1876 - 1877 | ||||
| Lovell Burchett Clarence | 1882 | ||||
| Sir Alfred Lascelles | 1906 | ||||
| William Thomas Porter | 1921 | ||||
| Sir Francis Soertsz | 1939 | ||||
| Sir Francis Soertsz | 1945 and 1946 | ||||
| Eugene Reginald de Fonseka | 1960 and 1962 | Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke | |||
| Chellappah Nagalingam | Northern Province | 1954 |