History of the Office of Attorney General in Sri Lanka
The office of "Attorney-General" was formally adopted in the year 1884. A detailed account of the history of the office of Attorney General of Sri Lanka can be found in the Background Paper titled âAttorney General as advisor to the Government and as guardian of Public Interests, which was presented by the then Solicitor General the late Justice K.M.M.B.Kulatunga PC at the Conference of Attorneys“ General (Asia and Pacific Region) which was held in Colombo from 8th to 12th August 1984, in order to commemorate one hundred years of the Institution of Attorney General in Sri Lanka Excerpts from that paper are as follows;
It was in the year 1884 that the designation Attorney-General was adopted. However the office of the Attorney-General could be traced back to the office of 'Advocate Fiscal' which was in existence towards the latter stages of Dutch rule in the Island and which office continued even during the early years of British occupation until the year 1834 when the designation was changed to that of "King's Advocate". Land Reform Commission v. Grand Central Ltd., S.L.L.R. 1981 C.A.p. 147 at p. 153.
Bonser C.J. in the year 1898, in the case of Le Mesurier v Leyard 3 NLR 227 at p. 230 observed that:
The Present Attorney-General is the lineal successor of the Advocate Fiscal, am just as in the old days action against the Government was brought against the Advocate Fiscal as representing the legal ˜Fiscal™ or Treasury, so they may now be brought against the Attorney General.
During the reign of Queen Victoria and prior to the adoption of the designation Attorney-General the office was called am known as Queen's Advocate. The judgement of Cayley, CJ and Clarence J in the case of Moragodaliyanage Peiris Perera (1880) 3 S.C.C. 161 show that he was also the principal law Officer of the Government in all criminal matters as well.
By Ordinance No: 1 of 1883 the designations of the officers known as the Queen's Advocate am Deputy Queen's Advocate were altered to Attorney-General and Solicitor-General respectively and the deputies to the Queen's Advocate were named Crown Counsel. All rights, precedents, powers, privileges, which at the passing of the Ordinance belonged to, were vested in or were exercised by the Queen's Advocate or the Deputy Queen's Advocate were re-vested in the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General respectively.
The change took effect from 1st January 1884. In introducing the Ordinance in the Legislative Council, the Queen's Advocate said that the Bill proposed that ‘the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, besides having the powers exercised in England should have the same rights and privileges which the Law Officers of the Crown have hitherto possessed in the Colony.
Our records show that from as far back as the year 1884 the Attorney-General was assisted in the discharge of his legal functions by the Solicitor-General and Crown Counsel. In due course an officer designated the Crown Conveyencer (later designated as Crown Proctor) was also appointed to the Attorney-General's Department to attend to conveyancing work and to assist in the conduct of civil litigation of the Government.
Under the Donoughmore Constitution the provision of legal advice to the Governor was the responsibility of the Legal Secretary and the Attorney-General's Department. The institution of Criminal prosecutions and Civil proceedings on behalf of the Crown was the duty of the Attorney-General's Department (Soulbury Report 1945 p.105)
The Soulbury Commissioners recommended that the functions of the Legal Secretary certifying Bills prior to submission to the Governor for assentshould be transferred to the Attorney-General (Soulbury Report p.92)
The Commissioners recommended the appointment of a Minister of Justice to deal with the subjects then allocated to the Legal Secretary. They also recommended that under the new Constitution, for some time at least, the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General should not lose their status as public servants and become Ministers and that the provision of legal advice to the Governor General should in future be a duty of the Attorney-General (Soublury Report p.105)
The Ceylon (Constitution) order in Council 1946 (Cap. 379) gave effect to the above recommendations except that in regard to Bills it provided that the Speaker shall consult the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General before giving his certificate to any Bill. It was only after such certificate that the Bill could be presented to the Governor-General for assent.
Sri Lanka attained independence on the February 1948. She became a republic under the 1972 Constitution. The Governor-General was replacedby a President who was nominated by the Prime Minister and who was enjoined to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and other Ministers. Until 1972, the Attorney-General was appointed by the Governor-General and thereafter by the President. The Constitution of 1978 provided for an executive President to be elected by the People Under that Constitution also the Attorney-General isappointed by the President.
It is observed that none of the Constitutions adopted since 1946 altered the non-political status of the Attorney General and the Solicitor-General. The Attorney-General continued to be the Chief Law Officer of the State. His independence and the status remained unaffected. However, his functions were increased under the 1972 Constitution. The Constitution of 1978 vested in him many more functions.
In his welcome address at the same conference, the then Attorney General Mr.Shiva Pasupathi PC stated as follows;
It has been said that the Attorney-General is the lineal successor of the Advocate Fiscal and later, the King's Advocate. It appears that during the Dutch period of our history, there was the Advocate Fiscal appointed by the Government of Batavia, who combined two different functions. In civil cases, he deliberated and voted as a judge: in criminal cases he was considered as the public prosecutor. During the British period that followed, when in 1802 the Supreme Court of Judicature was established, the office of Advocate Fiscal was retained. In the Charter of Justice in 1833, the Office of Advocate Fiscal underwent the transformation to that of Kings Advocate. It was 100 years ago, in 1884 that the office of Attorney-General was established by law consequent to a decision of the Supreme Court. The Queen's Advocate in introducing the Bill in Legislative Council said that the Bill was to enable the exercise of the same powers of the Attorney-General of the United Kingdom. However, even in the United Kingdom, the origin of the office of Attorney-General has not been definitely established. It has been regarded as a transition from, the duties performed by the Kings Attorney in the medieval era to that of the principal Law Officer of the Crown of the present day.
Whose who in the Attorney General’s Department
Past officers who went on to become Chief Justices
Hon Sir Anton Bertram KC
Hon Richard Cayley
Hon Charles Peter Layard
Hon Edwin Arthur Lewis Wijeywardena KC
Hon John Howard KC
Hon E.G.P. Jayathilake KC
Hon Allan Rose KC
Hon Hema Henry Basnayake KC
Hon G.P.A.Silva
Hon Victor Tennakoon QC
Hon G.P.S. De Silva
Hon Sarath N. Silva PC
Hon Asoka De Silva
Hon Mohan Peiris PC
Past officers who went on to become Judges of the Supreme Court
Hon Walter Pereira KC
Hon M.W.H. De Silva KC
Hon L.M.D. De Silva KC
Hon Hector Deheragoda
Hon R.S. Wanasundera
Hon Percy Colin Thome
Hon H.A.G.De Silva
Hon Joseph Grenier
Hon Lovell Burchette Clarence
Hon Henry Lorentz Wendt
Hon Thomas Forrest Garvin
Hon L.M.Maartensz
Hon V.M.Fernando
Hon Noel Gratien QC
Hon V.M.Fernando
Hon T.A. De S. Wijesundera
Hon G.P.S. De Silva
Hon G.R.T.D. Bandaranayake
Hon R.N.M. Dheeraratne
Hon P. Ramanathan
Hon P.R.P. Perera
Hon Sarath N. Silva PC
Hon A De Z. Gunawardana
Hon K.M.M.B. Kulatunge PC
Hon D.P.S. Gunasekera
Hon Ameer Ismail
Hon S.W.B. Wadugodapitiya PC
Hon H.S.Yapa
Hon Asoka De Silva
Hon Nihal Jayasinghe
Hon Shiranee Thilakawardene
Hon A.R.N. Fernando
Hon Gamini Amaratunge
Hon Andrew Somawansa
Hon D.J.De S. Balapatabendi
Hon Saleem Marsoof PC
Hon K. Sripavan
Hon P.A. Ratnayake PC
Hon Sathya Hettige PC
Hon W.P.G.Dep PC
Hon S.Eva Wanasundara PC
Hon Rohini Marasinghe
Hon Buwanaka Aluwihare PC
Hon K.S.J. De Abrew
Hon. Sarath de Abrew
Hon Priyantha Jayawardena PC
Past officers who went on to become President of the Court of Appeal
Hon Sarath N. Silva
Hon Saleem Marsoof PC
Hon Sathya Hettige PC
Hon S.Sriskandarajah
Hon Vijith Malalgoda PC
Past officers who went on to become Judges of the Court of Appeal
Hon Sarath N. Silva
Hon W.N.D. Perera
Hon P.H.K.Kulathilake
Hon Gamini A.L Abeyrathne
Hon S.Sriskandarajah
Hon Eric Basnayake
Hon Anil Goonaratne
Hon A.H.M.D.Nawaz
First female Attorney General
Hon S.Eva Wanasundera PC
Hon Shanthi Eva Wanasundera PC was appointed as the 26th Attorney General of Sri Lanka in August 2011, thus becoming the first female Attorney General in the history of the Attorney General’s Department. She was also the first female Senior State Counsel, Deputy Solicitor General, Additional Solicitor General and Solicitor General. She is presently serving as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
First female State Counsel
Justice Shiranee Tillekawardena
Justice Tillekawardena, the first female to be appointed as a State Counsel in the history of the Attorney General’s Department. She was later appointed as the first female High Court Judge of Sri Lanka and also became the first female Judge of the Court of Appeal as well as the first female President of the Court of Appeal. Subsequently she was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court and also acted on several occasions as Chief Justice. She retired in April 2014.
Three Generations in the Attorney General’s Department
J.E.M. Obeyesekere, R.I. Obeyesekere PC and Arjuna Obeyesekere
Two Generations in the Attorney General’s Department
Father and son
Justice E.H.T Gunasekara and sons S.L Gunasekara and S.J.Gunasekara
E.D. Wikramanayake and Arittha Wikramanayake
Ranjit Abeysuriya PC and Rohantha Abeysuriya
A.A de Silva PC and Lalin de Silva
Justice K.M.M.B Kulatunga PC and Gihan Kulatunga
D.P Kumarasinghe PC and Mahendra Kumarasinghe
Tissa Ekanayake and Charuka Ekanayake
Justice Jagath Balapatabendi and Isuru Balapatabendi
Aloy Ratnayake PC and Dilan Ratnayake
Justice Saleem Marsoof PC and Althaf Marsoof
C.R. De Silva PC and Shehan De Silva
Justice Nihal Jayasinghe and Manohara Jayasinghe
Father and daughter
Justice T.A. de S. Wijesundera and Menaka Wijesundera
Justice Priyantha Perera and Sonali Perera
Justice Asoka de Silva and Kanishka de Silva
Justice Nihal Jayasinghe and Vichitri Jayasinghe
G.L.M. de Silva and Harshika de Silva
Anil Silva PC and Maheshika Silva
Jacob Joseph and Avindra de Silva
Mother and daughter
Justice Shiranee Tilakawardena and Deepti Tilakawardena
Siblings in the Department
Justice Priyantha Perera and Srinath Perera PC
S.L Gunasekara and S.J.Gunasekara
Kumari Gamage and Justice Vijith Malalgoda PC
Kalinga Indatissa PC and Nalinda Indatissa
Harsha Fernando and Yuresha Fernando
Vichitri Jayasinghe and Manohara Jayasinghe
Uddala Suwandurugoda and Nadee Aparna Suwandurugoda
Nalin Hewawasam and Prabodhini Hewawasam
Past officers who have held prominent public office
Cabinet Ministers
M. Tiruchelvam QC
Tyronne Fernando PC
M.H.M. Ashraff PC
M.H.M.Naina Marikkar
Tilak Marapone PC
Governor of a Province
Justice P. Ramanathan
Deputy Speaker
Chandima Weerakkody
Members of Parliament
S.L. Gunasekara
Chula Bandara
N. Raviraj
Secretary General of Parliament
Sam Wijesinghe
Dhammika Dassanayake
Secretary Ministry of Justice
Suhada Gamalath PC
Chairman of the Public Service Commission
Justice Priyantha Perera
Justice Sathya Hettige PC
Chairman of the Commission to investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption
Justice T.A. de S. Wijesundera
Justice Ameer Ismail
Justice Jagath Balapatabendi
Attorney General of Seychelles
Tony Fernando
Ananda Amaranath
Solicitor General of Marshall Islands
Douglas Premaratne PC
Solicitor General of Dominican Republic
A.R.C.Perera
Officers (other than the permanent holders of the office of Attorney General and Solicitor General) who have taken silk whilst at the Department
Srinath Perera P.C.
D.P.Kumarasinghe P.C.
Saleem Marsoof P.C.
Rienzie Arsecularatne PC
P.A.Ratnayake PC
Sathya Hettige PC
A.Gnanathasan PC
Kumar Arulanantham PC
Suhada Gamalath PC
Jayantha Jayasuriya PC
Vijith Malalgoda PC
Buwaneka Aluvihare PC
Kapila Waidyaratne PC
Dappula de Livera PC
Murdu Fernando PC
Shavindra Fernando PC
Wasantha Navaratne Bandara PC
Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe PC
Sanjay Rajaratnam PC
Those who have taken silk after leaving the Department
A.C.(Bunty) de Zoysa PC
J.W. Subasinghe PC
G.F.Sethukavaler PC
H.L. de Silva PC
Daya Perera PC
A.Mahendrarajah PC
George Candappa PC
R.I. Obeyesekere PC
Ranjit Abeysuriya PC
Faiz Musthapha PC
D.S.Wijesinghe PC
Kosala Wijayatilake PC
S.Sivarasa PC
A.A. de Silva PC
Mohan Peiris PC
Tirantha Walaliyadda PC
Anil Silva PC
Nihara Rodrigo PC
Dlindra Weerasuriya PC
Prasantha Lal de Alwis PC
Nihal Jayawardena PC
Kalinga Indatissa PC
Shanaka Ranasinghe PC
Nalin Ladduwahetty PC
Priyantha Jayawardena PC
Uditha Egalahewa PC