Judicial reform commission recommended increasing the retirement age for chief justice and Supreme Court judges to 70, raising 3 additional years.
Besides, the minimum age for the appointment of additional judges to the High Court has been set at 48 years.
The report of the judicial reforms commission has made such a proposal regarding the appointment and discipline of Supreme Court judges.
However, the judicial commission in 2014 proposed raising retirement age to 75. But it was not implemented then. However, after 10 years, the reform commission recommended increasing the age to 70.
Article 96 (1) of the constitution says “a Judge shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-seven years.”
Earlier, on November 11, 1986, the seventh amendment to the constitution increased the retirement age of judges from 62 to 65. On May 16, 2004, the fourteenth amendment increased the retirement age of judges from 65 to 67.
The report of the judicial reform commission proposed the formation of an eight-member commission headed by the Chief Justice to appoint judges to the High Court. However, before this proposal was made, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued an ordinance on January 21, providing for the formation of a seven-member council to appoint judges.
The Reform Commission report states that regarding the age limit for appointment of judges to the High Court, Article 48(4) of the constitution stipulates a minimum age of 35 years for becoming the President and Article 66(1) stipulates a minimum age limit of 25 years for becoming a Member of Parliament.
However, there is no minimum age limit for appointment as a Supreme Court judge.
The Reform Commission believes that for appointment as an Additional Judge of the High Court, the minimum age of a candidate should be 48 years, considering the experience and wisdom required for that post.
The report states that those who are appointed as judges to the High Court from judicial posts hold District Judge equivalent rank. It is not possible for a person to be less than 48 years of age to be promoted as District Judge.
Therefore, there should be a balance between the minimum age limit for appointment of these two categories of candidates, namely Supreme Court lawyers and judicial officers, to the post of judges of the High Court Division.
The report states that the age of the candidate for the post of Additional Judge of the High Court should be at least 48 years. Therefore, the commission proposed increasing the retirement age of the Chief Justice and other judges to 70 years.
However, the new retirement age will not apply to judges appointed before the proposed amendment.
The report also states that Supreme Court lawyers will need 15 years of active experience in the legal profession to be appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court. And judges of subordinate courts will also need 15 years of experience. However, at least three of these years will have to be served as a district judge.
Translated by Afsar Munna
