Sri Lanka's judicial system is in need of serious reform, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said yesterday.

Speaking at a Christmas Day event at the Welikada Prison, he said that court cases were getting unnecessarily delayed, forcing many inmates to spend in remand prison for long periods of time.

Furthermore, some prisoners are held for long periods of time for minor offences such as being unable to pay a fine.

He called on for the introduction of a specified time period for the completion of a court case, depending on its nature.