Sri Lanka’s effort to retain preferential trade access to the European Union has run into a new complication, as a proposed constitutional amendment affecting the judiciary draws scrutiny from legal bodies and international observers ahead of critical GSP+ negotiations.

The disputed measure, the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, would alter the retirement ages of judges serving on the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and has become entangled with Colombo’s efforts to demonstrate compliance with the human rights and governance standards that underpin its trade privileges with Brussels.

What the amendment proposes

The 22nd Amendment would change how long serving judges of the country’s two highest courts remain in office.

Officials have defended the move as necessary to address a substantial backlog of cases and to ease pressure on an overstretched judicial system, arguing that retaining experienced judges for longer would strengthen the administration of justice rather than weaken it.

Legal bodies hit back

Opposition to the proposal has focused not on the length of judicial terms itself but on the principle at stake.

Legal experts and rights advocates contend that altering the retirement terms of judges already sitting on the bench threatens the security of tenure that underpins judicial independence, a safeguard widely regarded as essential to the separation of powers.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has formally objected to the plan on these grounds, while the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has written to the government requesting clarification on the amendment and its likely consequences for judicial autonomy.

Why Brussels is watching closely

What began as a domestic political rift now carries major geopolitical and economic stakes, placing Sri Lanka’s vital GSP+ trade concessions directly on the line. To qualify for the scheme, beneficiary countries must ratify and effectively enforce a wide range of international conventions spanning human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and governance.

The European Commission’s newer GSP framework places special emphasis on this second requirement, so Sri Lanka must prove not merely that it has signed up to these obligations, but that they are being upheld in practice through its laws, institutions and administrative conduct.

Sri Lanka enters the process already under EU scrutiny on several fronts.

Brussels has previously raised serious concerns over the application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), pressed for further human rights reforms, raised questions over the Online Safety Act, and noted delays in the country’s reporting against its international human rights commitments.

Any perception that the judiciary’s independence is being eroded would add to this list rather than exist in isolation.

Officials in Brussels have not signalled that the 22nd Amendment alone would jeopardise Sri Lanka’s GSP+ renewal, and drawing that conclusion at this stage would outpace the available evidence.

The more realistic threat lies in accumulation. Should concerns over the judiciary combine with existing unease about counter-terrorism legislation, online regulation and reporting gaps, the cumulative picture could shape the EU’s overall judgement on whether Sri Lanka continues to meet the threshold required of GSP+ beneficiaries.

Government response

Recognising the stakes, the government has set up a Cabinet subcommittee drawing on several ministries to coordinate the country’s preparations for the forthcoming GSP+ review.

Its remit includes identifying where Sri Lanka’s implementation of international commitments falls short and readying the country to meet the scheme’s updated requirements.

Economic stakes

Access to European markets carries substantial weight for Sri Lanka’s export-driven industries, with apparel manufacturing among the sectors most exposed to any disruption.

The government now faces a dual challenge, needing to protect the independence and standing of domestic institutions while simultaneously convincing Brussels that its international commitments are being honoured in substance rather than on paper.

How the row over judicial retirement terms is ultimately resolved may prove a decisive indicator of whether Colombo can manage both demands at once, with the outcome likely to shape the terms of engagement as formal GSP+ discussions with the EU move ahead.

Sri Lanka has offered four offshore blocks in the Northwestern Mannar Basin for international investors to explore oil and gas in a fresh attempt to attract investments into the sector after an earlier attempt ended in a failure due to not commercially viable production.

The Mannar Basin, which lies between southern India and northwestern Sri Lanka, may hold around $260 billion worth of oil and gas resources, A Sri Lanka’s former energy minister has told the parliament in 2021.

The latest attempt is the first under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake government to explore oil and gas in the area. Based on seismic surveys, previous governments have estimated that a 30,000 square kilometre area off the north coast of the country holds over one million barrels of oil resources.

“We are opening four significant exploration blocks in the Mannar Basin and invite experienced international energy companies to evaluate this opportunity and work with Sri Lanka a long-term partners in the responsible development of our natural resources,” the island nation’s Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said.

Sri Lanka held its first international licensing round for petroleum exploration in 2007, with one exploration block awarded to an Indian firm that pulled out amid concerns o er the commercial viability of oil production despite the discovery of gas and hydrocarbons in the Mannar basin.

“Now we have different scientific data, and we believe that the time has come to move forward with great determination and clear sense of purpose…..We are sure that the history will not repeat it again,” Karunathilaka said.

Out of the four blocks, second is the smallest with 5,689.05 square kilometres area and the fourth is the largest with 11,728.3 square kilometres area.

In 2007, the island nation assigned to China and India on nomination basis. However, this time, it has not assigned for any other countries, the officials said.

“Nobody is barred from bidding,” Neil De Silva, the Director General at the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) told EconomyNext.

Sri Lanka’s pursuit of offshore oil and gas exploration began in the late 1960s, initially focusing on shallow offshore areas in the Gulf of Mannar and the Cauvery Basin.

Early exploratory drilling yielded limited technical successes until 2011, when Cairn Lanka, a subsidiary of Cairn India at that time, made a breakthrough by discovering significant natural gas accumulations in two offshore wells within the deepwater Mannar Basin.

These discoveries established the presence of commercially viable natural gas and condensate deposits.

However, due to complex deepwater extraction dynamics, a lack of domestic natural gas infrastructure, and global energy market shifts, commercial production failed to materialize, leading Cairn to exit the block in 2015.

Following years of stagnation, Sri Lanka modernized its regulatory setup by enacting the Petroleum Resources Act of 2021 and establishing the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) to manage exploration rights and update offshore acreage block maps.

To revitalize foreign investment and lower its heavy reliance on coal and oil imports, the country introduced new joint-study regulations and structured new licensing frameworks.

These efforts aim to attract international oil and gas majors to explore and commercialize the estimated hydrocarbon potential across its three major prospective sedimentary basins: the Mannar, Cauvery, and Lanka Basins.

The Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) have pledged their full support for a large-scale conference organised by families of the forcibly disappeared in Jaffna on 30 August, with DTNA parliamentarian and TELO leader Selvam Adaikalanathan saying the alliance will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the families in their continuing struggle.

Speaking at a press conference at his office in Mannar on Tuesday, Adaikalanathan said families, including mothers who have spent years searching for relatives who were handed over to the Sri Lankan military, would gather in Jaffna to advance their demands.

He said the families’ years-long campaign to establish the fate of their missing loved ones remains an issue from the Tamil homeland that continues to attract international attention.

“Their struggle and their efforts to search for their missing relatives are still being discussed by countries around the world,” he said.

His comments come as excavations at the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna continue to raise questions over the fate of those who disappeared during the conflict.

Adaikalanathan linked the discoveries at Chemmani to unresolved cases of the disappeared, saying there were concerns that the remains of people being sought by their families could also be among those buried at such sites.

He also questioned whether civilians who were arrested in other locations could have been buried at similar sites, saying the Chemmani excavations were exposing the scale of atrocities committed against Tamils.

“What Chemmani shows today is the extent of the grave acts carried out against us by those forces that sought to destroy and eliminate the Tamil people,” he said.

Adaikalanathan said the DTNA and TELO would provide their “full support” to the 30 August conference and take action alongside the families.

“We will certainly stand shoulder to shoulder with them and engage in action with their full support,” he said.

The conference is being organised by families who have spent years seeking answers over relatives who disappeared, including those who were surrendered to the Sri Lankan military.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is set to lead a series of public rallies of the National People’s Power (NPP) covering all districts from 5 September, Minister Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said.

Speaking to the media in the Kalutara area, Jayatissa said the rallies would be accompanied by a programme to reorganise electoral committees at the Grama Niladhari Division level.

He also challenged opposition groups to take to the streets and hold public meetings to demonstrate their support, instead of engaging in what he described as nightly conspiracies at the residence of former Minister G L Peiris.

“There is no point in saying that you have something more than Gotabaya Rajapaksa or Ranil Wickremesinghe, or that you have something more than this side or that side. Words are of no use,” he said.

Jayatissa said the NPP was reorganising its electoral committees from the village and Grama Niladhari Division levels.

“From September 5, large-scale public rallies will be held in districts under the leadership of the President. We say that if there is public opinion against the Government, prove it. That is all that needs to be done. They should at least look at the programme we carried out when we were in the Opposition,” he said.