President’s Counsel C.R. de Silva, new AG

Sarath Malalasekera

COLOMBO: Solicitor General, President’s Counsel C.R. de Silva yesterday assumed duties as the new Attorney General of Sri Lanka.

President’s Counsel C.R. de Silva received his secondary education at Royal College, Colombo where excelled in both studies and in sports. He captained the Royal College Rugby Football team in 1968, when they were adjudged school champions. In the same year, he captained the Ceylon Schools’ Rugby Football team.

New Attorney General’s father Justice K.D. De Silva was a Judge of the Supreme Court. His two brothers are active practitioners in the Civil Courts.

He joined the Sri Lanka Law College and was called to the Bar in 1974. He devilled in the chambers of President’s Counsel A.C.de (Bunty) Zoysa and President’s Counsel Daya Perera.

The new Attorney General joined the Attorney General’s Department in September 1975 as a State Counsel. He was promoted as a Senior State Counsel in 1983. Later he was appointed as a Deputy Solicitor General.

On December 24, 1996 he was appointed as Additional Solicitor General and called to the Inner Bar as a President’s Counsel on March 27, 1997.

Attorney General de Silva successfully completed a course in Criminal Justice at the University of Illinois in USA in 1990. He has been a member of several Sri Lankan delegations to various international bodies including the Afro Asian Legal Consultative Committee meeting in Islamabad in 1993, UN Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights Committee, UN Convention Against Torture Committee, UN Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

He had been a member of the Child Protection Authority and was also a member of the Drug Control Board. In addition he was a member of the Committee of Inquiry appointed by the President to examine causes relating to the accidents and loss of aircraft of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

He was also associated with the Fr. Mathew Peiris’ case both in original and Appellate Courts.

The New Attorney General functioned as an Examiner at the Sri Lanka Defence Academy, Kandawala and at the Sri Lanka Law College.

During the last decade, Attorney General de Silva has appeared in some of the most sensational cases, which had generated public interest and concern. Some of the important cases he prosecuted are -

where the Deputy Commissioner of Examinations was convicted for the falsification of G.C.E. Examination results, the appeal in respect of the murder of Senior Customs Officer Amarapala, where the conviction was affirmed, the appeal in respect of the murder of Tony Martin, where the conviction was affirmed, the appeal in respect of the beauty queen of the Kobaigane, where the conviction was affirmed, the Trial at Bar in respect of the rape and murder of an Indian national Rita John Manoharan, where all the accused were convicted, the abduction and extortion Rs. 20 million from G.C. Wickramasinghe, where 13 accused were convicted and sentenced to periods of imprisonment ranging from 60-80 years, Trial at Bar in respect of the murder of Justice Sarath Ambepitiya, where all accused were convicted and sentenced to death, Appeal in respect of the murder of Justice Ambepitiya, where the conviction and sentences were affirmed by the Supreme Court, where the order of the Deputy Commissioner of Elections rejecting the list of candidates of the U.N.P. at the Colombo Municipal Council Elections 2006 was challenged.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Commissioner of Elections. The judgement of the Court of Appeal was affirmed by the Supreme Court.