History of the District Court Bandarawela

The History of the District Court of Bandarawela

As before, the Uva Province consisted of two Districts Badulla and Monaragala. There was just one single permanent court located in Badulla for both Districts. In addition to Bandarawela, there were several other circuit Courts located in Moneragala, Welimada, Haldummulla, Mahiyanganaya and Thuppitiya coming under Badulla Court. (presently the two districts have been separated)

Court sittings were conducted only for one week of the month at Bandarawela – as a circuit Court. The judge and the Court staff travelled from Badulla for this purpose. Even the lawyers from Badulla and other areas used to come to Bandarawela to appear in cases. Bandarawela Circuit Court was a combined court where both the Civil and the Criminal cases were heard on three days of the week, and the Civil cases were taken up on the balance two days of the week. During this period, the District Court and the Magistrate Court were held in the same building on different days – the same red colour brick building that stands today, as before for decades and decades.

court room

The Court of Assize (1971)

Way back – in or around 1971, The Court of Assize was established in Bandarawela. However, it functioned only for a very short period – may be only for about six months and was later discontinued.

Permanent Court Established (1972)

However, somewhere in 1972 a permanent Court was established in Bandarawela in the same Court Premises as today. This was once again a combined Court. Different days of the week were allocated for the Civil and Criminal cases. The same judge acted in the dual capacity as the District judge and Magistrate.

Transition to Swabasha (1974)

During this time all proceedings were conducted in the English language. However, an Act was passed around 1974 and the court procedure had to be in “Swabasha” and from that time onwards all cases are now conducted in the Sinhala language.

Separation of Courts (1978-1979)

Around 1978-1979 the two courts were separated whereby the Magistrate Court was shifted to the Building where the Labour Tribunal stands today. (During this period there was no Labour Tribunal in Bandarawela. The Labour Tribunal sat only in Badulla.) The District Court and the Magistrate Court functioned separately and independently thereafter. However later on The Labour Tribunal was established in Bandarawela as a circuit Court where it occupied the former Magistrate Court Building.

Primary Court Act & New Building (1979 & 2004)

When the Primary Court Act No. 44 of 1979 came in to operation, all Primary Court cases were heard in the Magistrate Court. In this manner the Magistrate Court functioned for a while and thereafter in the year 2004-2005 a two storied building was constructed and the Magistrate Court was shifted to the new building.

Welimada Combined Court (2001)

Civil cases related to the Welimada area were also heard in this court until the establishment of a Welimada Combined court in 2001 under the section 3 of the judicature Act No.2 of 1978.