Minister of Justice Ali Sabry says a special three-year plan will be implemented to reduce congestion in the judiciary and expedite the settlement of cases.
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice convened on Tuesday.
The committee discussed the three-year plan on the establishment of new courts and development of infrastructure facilities in the Western Province.
The Minister said although there are more than 200 judges per million of the population in developed countries, Sri Lanka has only 15 judges.
Accordingly, he said the number of judges is expected to increase to 218 and the number of courts to 245.
It was revealed that the digitisation of the judiciary has already commenced and an agreement has been reached with relevant technological service providers to conduct court meetings through e-filing systems and via video conferencing.
It is also expected that the Mediation Board will be strengthened while the number of disputes resolved is expected to double by next year.
It was also revealed that steps have been taken to establish land mediation boards in several areas including Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Kilinochchi to resolve land disputes.
The Minister noted several expert committees have been set up to reform the judicial system.
The members of the committee highlighted existing shortcomings in courts while the Minister claimed steps will be taken under the three-year plan to address them.
The Minister also said separate courts will be set up for cases involving financial crimes of less than Rs.1.5 million to avoid delays in hearing large scale financial crime cases.
