New fee to be levied by Colombo courts

The Colombo High Court and the Commercial High Court will be charging Rs. 500 per case that is filed with them from June 01st, according to a government decision.

Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva has approved the new levy that goes to a fund, which will buy technological equipment needed by the two courts, their registrars said.

From May 26th, the relevant notification is on display at the Hulftsdorp Court Complex.

However, a legal expert said that this fee is going to be levied without backing from any piece of legislation, and that the decision was unfair and illegal.

It is the accepted practice to channel the monies collected through such a levy to a consolidated state fund in accordance with financial and administrative regulations.

The legal expert also questioned the transparency of the new fund that is not accountable to Parliament or the Auditor General's Department.


On average, the two courts daily receive around 150 new cases pertaining to divorces, land, finances and other matters.