Cabinet approval for the use of English language in certain SL courts

The Cabinet has granted approval to take the necessary measures for the English language to be considered for conducting legal proceedings and maintaining records in certain courts in Sri Lanka.

The government states that particulars in the commerce sphere related to commercial activities are mainly used in the English language and require a considerable cost and time to translate those contents into the Sinhala language.

Due to that, an extended period to settle commercial disputes takes place which leads to disadvantages when obtaining entrepreneurs, and this situation has also affected the position of Sri Lanka to be in a lower rank in the Ease of Doing Business ratings which envisage the ability to conduct enterprises in a country.

As a remedy to this, it has been recognized as appropriate to issue an order by the Minister of Justice with the approval of the Cabinet and on par with the provisions of statute 24 (4) of the Constitution, permitting the use of the English language concerning all the activities in recognized courts or legal records and proceedings precisely mentioned thereupon.

Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved the proposal submitted by the Minister of Justice to take necessary actions in this regard.