Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. The country's only female president to date, she is the daughter of two former prime ministers and was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until the end of 2005. In 2015 she was appointed as the chairperson of office for national unity and reconciliation.
Majuwana Kankanamage Victor Ivan is Sri Lankan journalist. He was a Marxist rebel in his youth and later became the Editor of the controversial Sinhalese newspaper Ravaya. He served as the Editor of the Ravaya for 25 years consecutively since its inception. Victor is an investigative journalist, political critic, a theorist, social activist and also an author of several books.
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (Tamil: இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம் Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is the highest court of Sri Lanka. The Supreme Court is the highest and final judicial instance of record and is empowered to exercise its powers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The Court has ultimate appellate jurisdiction in constitutional matters, and take precedence over all lower Courts. The Sri Lanka judicial system is complex blend of both common-law and civil-law. In some cases such as capital punishment, the decision may be passed on to the President of the Republic for clemency petitions.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Sri Lanka.
Gaasinather Gangaser Ponnambalam was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician. Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, he was a presidential candidate in 1982. He was shot dead in January 2000 in an assassination blamed on President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
President's Counsel is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appointment of Queen's Counsel (QC) which ceased when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. It is equivalent to the appointment of Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth jurisdictions and derives the same privileges such as the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court.
Saleem Marsoof, PC is a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. He is a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and former President of the Court of Appeal. He is also a non-resident Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Fiji.
Deshamanya Suppiah Sharvananda was the 37th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and the first Governor of the Western Province.
Peter Mohan Maithree Peiris, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer who served as the Attorney General of Sri Lanka from 2008 to 2011 and was the de facto Chief Justice of Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2015 when President Maithripala Sirisena declared his appointment void ab initio in 2015.
Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Sumanaweera Banda Dissanayake, MP is a Sri Lankan politician. He is the former Cabinet Minister of Higher Education in President Mahinda Rajapakse's Government. He was former general secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and former National Organizer of the United National Party Dissanayake lost his cabinet position after Rajapaksha was defeated at the 2015 presidential election in Sri Lanka.
Upatissa Atapattu Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake served as the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. Although a qualified lawyer, she has never practiced law. After university Bandaranayake entered academia, holding a number of senior positions at the University of Colombo, including Associate Professor of Law and the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Colombo. She was first appointed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1996, becoming Sri Lanka's first female Supreme Court Judge. Bandaranayake was appointed chief justice in May 2011 following the mandatory retirement of Asoka de Silva. Bandaranayake was controversially impeached by Parliament and then removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013. and on 28 January 2015 the government of Sri Lanka, had removed all obstacles for Bandaranayake to hold her position as the 43rd Chief Justice by the President Maithripala Sirisena, on the ground that her 2013 impeachment was unlawful and as such the appointment of Mohan Peiris, her successor, was void Ab initio. This paved the way for Bandaranayake to resume duties on 28 January 2015. She retired from the position just after one day of her reappointment on 29 January 2015 claiming support for a free and fair Judiciary in Sri Lanka.
Deshamanya Justice Pathmanathan Ramanathan was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge. Known as Rama, he was a High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge, provincial governor, university chancellor and a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Justice Kanagasabapathy J. Sripavan is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge. He was Deputy Solicitor General, judge and president of the Court of Appeal, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and the 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
Shirani Bandaranayake, the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, was impeached by Parliament and then removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013. Bandaranayake was accused of a number of charges including financial impropriety and interfering in legal cases, all of which she has denied. The impeachment followed a series of rulings against the government by the Supreme Court, including one against a bill proposed by Minister Basil Rajapaksa, President Rajapaksa's brother. Bandaranayake was replaced as chief justice by former Attorney General Mohan Peiris. Peiris is considered to be an ally of President Rajapaksa and his appointment is seen by critics as further consolidation of power by the president and his family. Bandaranayake refused to recognise the impeachment and lawyers groups refused to work with the new chief justice. Bandaranayake's controversial impeachment drew much criticism and concern from within and outside of Sri Lanka. On 28 January 2015 she was reinstated and retired on 29 January, the next day.
Justice Jaya Pathirana was a leading Sri Lankan lawyer, Member of Parliament 1961-64 and Supreme Court judge Born 18 April 1921, Died 25 May 2000.
Justice Krishnapillai Palakidnar was a leading Sri Lankan lawyer, judge and President of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka.
Justice Priyasath Dep PC is a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. He was the 45th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and a former Solicitor General of Sri Lanka.
Justice Sarath de Abrew was a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Kulahath Sisira Jayawilal de Abrew is a sitting Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka who was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014 to replace Justice Nimal Gamini Amaratunga. In May 2016 de Abrew was appointed to the Judicial Service Commission by President Maithripala Sirisena.
