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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.
The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka. The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka assists the Attorney General, and is assisted by four Additional Solicitors General. Note that the post was Solicitor General of Ceylon until Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972.
Upawansa Yapa PC was the 37th Solicitor General of Sri Lanka.
Chitta Ranjan De Silva, PC was a Sri Lankan lawyer. He was Attorney General and Solicitor General of Sri Lanka. He was the Chairman of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission
Kandapper Chinniah Kamalasabayson was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and Attorney General of Sri Lanka.
Rear Admiral Sarath Palitha Fernando, PC, VNF is a Sri Lankan lawyer. He is the former Attorney General of Sri Lanka and had served as Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy.
Joseph Asoka Nihal De Silva was the 42nd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
Aiyathurai Gnanathasan is a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, President's Counsel and Additional Solicitor General.
Deshamanya Shivakumaran Pasupati is a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, President's Counsel, Solicitor General and Attorney General.
Tilak Janaka Marapana PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer. He is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Assignments. He is a Member of Parliament appointed from the national list and had served as Minister of Law and Order, Prison Reforms from September 2015 to November 2015 and Minister of Defence (2001–2003) and Minister of Transport, Highways and Aviation (2002–2004). As Minister of Defence, he was the only non Presidential or Prime Ministerial holder of the portfolio. A lawyer by profession and a President's Counsel, he had served as a government prosecutor in the Attorney General's Department for twenty six years, serving as Solicitor General and Attorney General.
Deshamanya Justice Victor Tennekoon QC was a Sri Lankan lawyer and jurist. He served as the 35th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, as well as the 33rd Attorney General and 23rd Solicitor General. From 1979 to 1984 Tennekoon served as Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya.
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.
Shanthi Eva Wanasundera PC is a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. She was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Prior to her appointment as Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, in 2012, she served as Solicitor General and Attorney General of Sri Lanka.
Raja Sirimevan Wanasundera PC was a Sri Lankan judge who served as a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court and the 27th Solicitor General of Sri Lanka.
Justice S. W. B. Wadugodapitiya, PC is a Sri Lankan judge. He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and had served as the Acting Chief Justice. He was also the 33rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka.
Sithampbarampillai Thurairaja, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer and a sitting Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He was formerly a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka and High Court of Fiji.
Yasantha Kodagoda is a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. He was called to the Bar as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on 28 October 1988. Prior to being appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as the President of the Court of Appeal in March 2019, he served as an Additional Solicitor General of the Attorney General's Department. Having joined the Attorney General's Department of Sri Lanka in 1989 as a State Counsel, he rose to the positions of Senior State Counsel (1999), Deputy Solicitor General (2005), Senior Deputy Solicitor General (2014) and Additional Solicitor General (2015). He has 30+ years of experience as a Public Prosecutor and Legal Advisor to the Government of Sri Lanka. His specialization is in the field of criminal justice. In 2015, in recognition of his eminence in the legal profession, he was appointed President's Counsel. He completed his primary and secondary education at Ananda College Colombo he was a president Scout of ananda college and then attended Sri Lanka Law College. He obtained Master's degree in Public International Law with Merit (LL.M.) from the University College London (UCL) He acted as the Director of the Advanced Legal Studies Unit of the Sri Lanka Law College and the Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the Incorporated Council of Legal Education. He has served many Commissions of Inquiry as representative Counsel of the Attorney General. For over a decade, he has represented Sri Lanka before the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights Council. He has also represented Sri Lanka before the UN Security Council's Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict, and has served as the Accredited Representative of the Government of Sri Lanka at the UN Committee Against Torture. He was a member of the EU-Sri Lanka Working Group on Trade and Economic Relations Cooperation 2016 and actively participated in Sri Lanka gaining the GSP+ trade concessions. Kodagoda is known as a book reviewer
Jayantha Chandrasiri Jayasuriya PC is a lawyer who is the 47th and current Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. 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.
Dappula de LiveraPC is a Sri Lankan lawyer and the current Attorney General of Sri Lanka. He previously served as the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from February 2018 and took over as acting attorney general from 29 April 2019 until his formal appointment in May 2019.
In 2015 a coup d'état was allegedly attempted in Sri Lanka by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in order to remain in power after he had been voted out in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election. Rajapaksa, who was expected to easily win a third term in office lost to Maithripala Sirisena, a former ally and member of the Rajapaksa administration. Though ultimately there was a peaceful transition between governments, some government officials claim Rajapaksa made an attempt to deploy the army and police to stop the counting of votes when initial results showed he was heading for defeat.
References
- 1 2 3 "Yuwanjana Wanasundera Wijayathilake sworn in as new Attorney General of Sri Lanka". ColomboPage. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- 1 2 "News". Attorney General's Department. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ "History". Attorney General's Department. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ "Yuwanjana Wanasundera Wijayathilake new AG". Digatha News. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Palitha Fernando | Solicitor General of Sri Lanka 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Palitha Fernando | Attorney General of Sri Lanka 2014–2016 | Succeeded by Jayantha Jayasuriya |