Mark Damien Hugh Fernando, PC was a jurist and former judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He died after a long bout with cancer on 20 January 2009. He was known as a Judge who stood up for judicial independence and the integrity of the profession.
A President's Counsel is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing when it became a republic in 1972. It is equivalent to the appointment of a King's Counsel in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and that of Senior Counsel in Commonwealth republics, bearing the same privileges, such as sitting within the Bar of court.
The Attorney General's Department is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka that supports the attorney general and his/her deputy the solicitor general. The department is headed by the attorney general and comes under the purview of the Ministry of Justice. The office of "Attorney General" was formally adopted in the year 1884.
Deshamanya Hector Wilfred "Harry" Jayewardene, QC was a prominent Sri Lankan lawyer. In 1979 he was chairman of a UNESCO conference on human rights in Bangkok and later chairman of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. He was member at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Kairshasp Nariman Choksy, PC, MP was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was Cabinet Minister of Finance under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. He had also served as Cabinet Minister of Constitutional & State Affairs from 1993 to 1994 under President D. B. Wijetunga and was a member of parliament from 1989 to 2010 continuiosly.
Mohamed Shibly Aziz, PC was a Sri Lankan lawyer. He served as Attorney General of Sri Lanka from 1995 to 1996 and served in the Constitution Council of Sri Lanka from 2015 to 2018.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal is a Sri Lankan accountant and politician who was also the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also the former State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms and a national list member of parliament since 12 August 2020. He served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, holding the post from 1 July 2006 until his resignation on 9 January 2015. He again became the Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka in September 2021, replacing W. D. Lakshman, and resigned again in April 2022.
Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran, MP, PC born 9 February 1964) is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician. A successful civil lawyer who practices civil litigation, human rights and constitutional law; Sumanthiran has severed as Member of Parliament from the Jaffna District since 2015 and National List from the 2010 to 2015 from the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.
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.
Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Vigneswaran, PC is a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, judge, politician and Member of Parliament. After practising law for more than 15 years, Vigneswaran was a member of the judiciary for 25 years. He was a magistrate and a judge of the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He was Chief Minister of the Northern Province from October 2013 to October 2018. He was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in August 2020. Vigneswaran is leader of the Tamil People's Alliance and the Tamil People's National Alliance.
Lakshman Arjuna Mahendran is a Sri Lankan-born Singaporean economist and banker. He is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), having been appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015 and served until the end of his term on 30 June 2016. He was the former Managing Director of HSBC Private Bank, Chief Investment Officer of Emirates NBD as well as chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. Mahendran is currently residing in Singapore, which has refused to extradite him on a request from Sri Lanka routed through interpol.
Kanaganayagam Kanag-Isvaran is a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and President's Counsel.
Prasanna Sujeewa Jayawardena, PC was a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. He was a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters.
Jayantha Chandrasiri Jayasuriya, PC is a lawyer who is serving as the 47th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka since 2019. Jayasuriya was approved by the Constitutional Council on the 26 April 2019 and sworn in three days later on the 29 April, succeeding Chief Justice Nalin Perera. He previously served as the 45th Attorney General of Sri Lanka. While serving as Attorney General Jayasuriya defended the sacking of the Prime Minister by the President of Sri Lanka but was over-ruled by the Supreme Court. Jayasuriya controversially requested an extension of the term of office of President Sirisena prior to being made Chief Justice. The Supreme Court overruled that request.
Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry, PC, MP, also known as Ali Sabry, is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the Current Minister of Foreign Affairs serving since 22 July 2022. He previously served as the Minister of Finance until 9 May 2022. He was a Member of Parliament, appointed from the national list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He also served as the Minister of Justice until 9 May 2022. He served as the defense counsel of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, chief legal adviser and President of the Muslim Federation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer. He is the current Attorney General of Sri Lanka. He previously served as the Acting Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from October 2019 up until May 2021.
Kalinga Nandaka Indatissa PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer and former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. He is also a legal academic. He has also held public office on several occasions and has represented clients in foreign jurisdictions. Indatissa is a prolific writer.
Nariman Kairshasp Choksy, was Ceylonese lawyer and judge. He was an acting Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.
