The parliament has passed the amendment bill to set the age limit for Judicial Service Commission (JSC) membership to 30.

The amendment bill for the JSC regulations was passed with 62 votes in favor at Wednesday’s sitting.

The judiciary committee initially proposed to set the age limit to 40 years of age, however, lawyers and the Bar Council highlighted that 25-year-olds can become judges and 30-year-olds can be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Upon the recommendation of lawyers and the Bar Council, the judiciary committee decided to set the age limit to 30 at their meeting on Monday.

The committee also passed the amendment to ban JSC members from practicing law. JSC members were previously criticized for representing clients in court.

Other amendments include allowing the dismissal of the JSC President or Vice President with the majority of votes of members present during the vote call, after four members propose to vote on the matter.

The amendment bill will also require the Judicial Academy’s administrative employees, resources, as well as financial and civil responsibilities to be transferred to the Department of Judicial Administration.