Court of Appeal
| Coming into Force | 28 October 1971 |
| Act Number | 44 |
| Year | 1971 |
| Citation | No. 44 of 1971 |
This Act may be cited as the Court of Appeal Act, No. 44 of 1971, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister of Justice may appoint by Order published in the Gazette, hereinafter in this Act referred to as the " appointed date ".
There shall be a Court of Appeal, hereafter in this Act referred to as the " Appellate Court ", which shall have, hold and exercise exclusive ultimate appellate civil and criminal jurisdiction, and such other jurisdiction as may be vested in that Court by this Act or by Parliament,, within and for Ceylon; and the judgment of that Court shall, in all cases, be final and conclusive.
(1) The Appellate Court shall consist of a President and of not more than six other Judges, all of whom may sit to hear and determine appeals under this Act. The minimum number of Judges necessary to constitute the Court shall be three. (2) If the President so directs, the Court may sit in two divisions. (3) No judgment shall be delivered by the Appellate Court save with the concurrence of a majority of the Judges present at the hearing of the case, but nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent a Judge who does not concur from delivering a dissenting judgment or opinion. (4) The Appellate Court shall be a superior court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court for the purpose of doing justice in the case before it including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
4. (1) The President and other Judges of the Appellate Court shall, upon the advice of the Prime Minister, be appointed to their offices by Letters Patent to be issued under the Public Seal of the Island by the Governor-General. (2) Every Judge of the Appellate Court shall be appointed for a period of five years. (3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), every Judge of the Appellate Court shall hold office during good behaviour and shall not be removable except by the Governor-General on an address of the House of Representatives. (4) No act or proceeding of the Appellate Court shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of any vacancy in the office, or any defect in the appointment, of a Judge of that Court.
5, (1) The salaries of the Judges of the Appellate Court shall be determined by Parliament and shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of Ceylon. (2) The salary payable to any Judge of the Appellate Court shall not be diminished during his term of office.
6. Where due to sickness, leave, incapacity, absence from the Island or other cause, the President or any other Judge of the Appellate Court is unable to discharge the functions of his office, the Governor-General, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint a fit and proper person to act as such President or Judge, as the case may be, by Letters...
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