Sri Lanka authorizes English as language in Commercial High Courts

25 March 2024 09:58 am

• Gazette notification issued enabling all aspects of litigation to be in English

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda 
 The Justice Minister has issued an extraordinary gazette notification permitting to use English language for all purposes of record and proceedings in the Commercial High Courts. 

 With the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and in accordance with Article 24(4) of the Constitution, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has issued this gazette notification enabling all aspects of litigation to be in English in commercial, company, admiralty and arbitration matters in the Commercial High Court.
 The Cabinet had noted that in the commerce sphere related to commercial activities are mainly used in the English language and require a considerable cost and time in translating those contents into the Sinhala language.