Introducing Best Practices to the Sri Lankan Courts System: a Journey of Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation

An average case in Sri Lanka can take over ten years to conclude due to inefficiencies in the country's courts. This situation has resulted in a loss of public confidence in the justice system due to extensive delays and high costs incurred in litigating a dispute. These delays affect the country's "doing business" environment, as drawn-out dispute resolution discourages foreign investment in Sri Lanka. The USAID Coherent, Open, Responsive, and Effective (CORE) Justice Program and its successor, the USAID Efficient and Effective Justice (EEJ) Activity, implement the Sri Lanka Model Courts Initiative to help courts reduce case backlog and delays. The projects faced difficulties in receiving required approvals and support to introduce best practices in case management due to the sensitive nature of case and court information, changes in leadership, rigid court organizational structures, ossified leadership styles, and inadequacies in staff skills and physical infrastructure. The projects worked in collaboration with the judiciary's leadership body, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), to gain its confidence and reform case management processes within Sri Lankan courts. The two USAID projects tailored case management plans for each model court and worked closely with judges, court staff, and the JSC to introduce best practices in case management. EEJ continued to learn and adapt its implementation approach in introducing these practices to JSC-nominated model courts. As these courts yielded results in reducing case backlog and delays, JSC expanded the number of model courts from seven to eighteen in 2023, with an additional three authorized in 2024.