In some cases, such as those involving capital punishment, the decision may be passed on to the President of Sri Lanka for clemency petitions.

[2] The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka was created on 18 April 1801 with the "Royal Charter of Justice of 1801 of King George the 3rd establishing the Supreme Courts of the Island of Ceylon" by the British, who controlled most of the island at the time, excluding the inland territory of Kandy.

In the discharge of its functions relating to the appointment of judges of the Courts, the Council may obtain the views of the Chief Justice and of the Attorney General.

A resolution for the presentation of the order of the President can be obtained by the Speaker or be placed on the Order Paper of Parliament only if notice of the resolution is signed by no less than one-third of the total number of Members of Parliament and sets out full particulars of the alleged misbehaviour or incapacity.

On 15 December at 4:45 pm a fire started in the waste material storage area on the ground floor of the Supreme Court Complex.

Sri Lankan judiciary was considered non-independent by some analysts during the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

After Maithripala Sirisena was elected as president the appointment of Mohan Peiris was considered null and void in law because Bandaranayake's sacking by the previous Government had no legal validity.

After that, she lawfully retired and Kanagasabapathy Sripavan was appointed as the Chief justice[15][16][17] In one of the landmark judgements, the Supreme Court ruled that powers over land would continue to remain vested in the Central Government, and not the provincial councils.

The verdict assumes significance in the wake of the government's apparent reluctance to devolve land and police powers — stated in the 13th Amendment that followed the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 — to its provinces.