Sittings of the Court
Article 132 of the Constitution – The several jurisdictions of the Supreme Court is ordinarily exercised in Colombo unless the Chief Justice otherwise directs and, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, is ordinarily exercised at all times by a Bench of at least three Judges ; the Chief Justice may, on his own motion or at the request of two or more Judges hearing any matter or on the application of a party , if the question involved is in the opinion of the Chief Justice one of general and public importance, direct that an appeal, proceeding or matter be heard by a Bench comprising five or more Judges.
Appeals from a High Court Trial at Bar shall be heard by a Bench of five or more Judges.
Judges of the Court
The Esteemed Current Judges of the Supreme Court
History
A Historical Lineage of Chief justices
Chief Justices of Ceylon (1801–1972)
- Codrington Edmund Carrington (1801–1806)
- William Coke (1807–1809)
- Alexander Johnston (1811–1819)
- Richard Ottley (1819–1827)
- Charles Marshall (1827–1833)
- William Norris (1833–1836)
- Anthony Oliphant (1836–1837)
- William Carpenter Rowe (1857–1859)
- Richard Morgan (1860–1875)
- John Budd Phear (1877)
- Edward Shepherd Creasy (1879–1882)
- John Winfield Bonser (1883–1893)
- Joseph Turner Hutchinson (1893–1902)
- Charles Layard (1902–1906)
- Joseph Turner Hutchinson (1906–1911)
- Alexander Wood Renton (1911–1918)
- Thomas De Sampayo (1918–1925)
- Francis Soertsz (1925–1930)
- Philip Rodrigo (1930–1936)
- Leonard de Silva (1936–1939)
- Arthur Wijewardene (1939–1949)
Chief Justices of Sri Lanka (1972–Present)
- Edward Jayetileke (1949–1950)
- Alan Rose (1950–1951)
- Hema Henry Basnayake (1951–1956)
- Miliani Sansoni (1956–1964)
- H. N. G. Fernando (1964–1966)
- G. P. A. Silva (1966–1973)
- Victor Tennekoon (1974–1977)
- Neville Samarakoon (1977–1984)
- Suppiah Sharvananda (1984–1988)
- Parinda Ranasinghe (1988–1991)
- Herbert Thambiah (1991)
- G. P. S. de Silva (1991–1999)
- Sarath N. Silva (1999–2009)
- Asoka de Silva (2009–2011)
- Shirani Bandaranayake (2011–2013)
- Mohan Peiris (2013–2015)
- K. Sripavan (2015–2017)
- Priyasath Dep (2017–2018)
- Nalin Perera (2018–2019)
- Jayantha Jayasuriya (2019–2023)
- Murdu Fernando (2024–Present)