Chief Justice of Sri Lanka

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka අග්‍ර විනිශ්චයකාර
Incumbent Priyasath Dep since 02 March 2017
Style	The Honourable Justice/His Lordship
Nominator	The President
Appointer	The President with Constitutional Council advice and consent
Term length	Until the age of sixty-five years
Constituting instrument	Royal Charter of Justice of 1801
Formation	March 1801
First holder	Codrington Edmund Carrington

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The Chief Justice of Sri Lanka is the head of the judicial system of Sri Lanka and is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are the Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The post was created in 1801.

The Chief Justice is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka with the nomination of the Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka). The Chief Justice, The Justices of the Supreme Court and The Justices of the Court of Appeal are addressed as "Your Lordship" and receives the title "The Honourable Justice".

The first Chief Justice was Codrington Edmund Carrington. The 45th and current Chief Justice is His Lordship Justice Priyasath Dep.^[1]

History

The office of Chief Justice traces its origins back with the founding the Royal Charter of Justice of 1801 by the British. With the establishment of the Supreme Court it was to consist of one principal Judge who shall be called "The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Island of Ceylon" and One other Judge, who was to be called "The Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Island of Ceylon". The charter required the Chief Justice and Puisne Justice to have not less than Five Years experience as Barristers, in England or Ireland to be named and appointed.

The post was first held by Codrington Edmund Carrington.^[2]

2013-2015

The Chief Justice Mohan Peiris PC was appointed on 15 January 2013 following the controversial Impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake. Peiris was elevated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the approval of the Parliamentary Council. Peiris' appointment drew some criticism. Peiris is considered to be an ally of President Rajapaksa and his appointment was seen by critics as further consolidation of power by the president and his family.^[3]^[4] Prior to his appointment he was Chairman of Seylan Bank, Senior Legal Officer to the Cabinet and held the post of Attorney General. Peiris was officially inaugurated as Chief Justice at a ceremony in the Supreme Court on 23 January 2013. On 28 January 2015 Peiris was removed from office and his tenure demoted as de facto Chief Justice as the Government of Sri Lanka acknowledged that his appointment was void at its inception as the sitting Judge, Shirani Bandaranayake was not impeached lawfully and therefore no vacancy existed for the post.

Current Chief Justice

The current Chief Justice is The Honourable Priyasath Dep the 45th Chief Justice.

Appointment

Appointment

The appointment and removal of Judges of the Supreme Court is outlined in Chapter XV Article 107. of the Sri Lankan Constitution. It states that "the Chief Justice and every other Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President of the Republic by warrant under his hand". Judges of the Supreme Court shall hold office until the age of retirement of sixty-five years. Article 109. describes appointments of an acting Chief Justice or Judge of the Supreme Court. The President shall appoint another Judge of the Supreme Court to act in the office of Chief Justice when the incumbent is "temporarily unable to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of his office, by reason of illness, absence from the country or any other cause" during such period. Each person appointed to or to act as Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court shall only take office and enter upon its duties after he or she takes and subscribes or makes and subscribes before the President, the oath or the affirmation set out in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.^[5]

Oath of office

"I ............................................................. do solemnly declare and affirm / swear that I will faithfully perform the duties and discharge the functions of the office of Chief Justice in accordance with the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the law, and that I will be faithful to the Republic of Sri Lanka and that I will to the best of my ability uphold and defend the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka."^[6]

Removal of office

Judges of the Supreme Court shall hold office during good behaviour. Removal of a judge shall only proceed with an address of the Parliament supported by a majority of the total number of Members of Parliament, (including those who are not present), and then by an order of the President. Reasons for such removal should be on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.^[5]

Duties

The Chief Justice serves as Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which consist two Judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the President of the Republic.^[5] The mission of the JSC is to accelerate the Development of the Nation by Ensuring Prompt and Equal Protection of the Law to Every Citizen through providing Infrastructure Services required for Administration of Justice, safeguarding the Independence of Judges and maintaining proper Human Resources Management in the support staffs in Court. Other duties of the Chief Justice include nominating judges, as may be necessary, to each such High Court. Every Judge shall be transferable by the Chief Justice.^[7]

List of Chief Justices

§ Served as provisional
¤ Chief Justice and President of the Council
° Impeachment charges brought against
♦ Elevated from Associate Justice
† Died in office
♠ Tenure demoted to de facto

Data based on:

A. Ranjit B. Amerasinghe|Amerasinghe, A. Ranjit B (1986), The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka: the first 185 years, Sarvodaya ^[8]
Chief Justices, 2009, Judicial Service Commission Secretariat^[9]

#	Chief Justice	Province	Took office	Left office	Elevated by
Chief Justice of Ceylon (1801-1972)
1	Codrington Edmund Carrington	England	March 1801	2 April 1806	North
2	Edmund Henry Lushington	England	15 April 1807	1809	Maitland
3	Alexander Johnston¤	Scotland	6 November 1811	1819	Wilson
4	Ambrose Hardinge Giffard	Ireland	8 April 1819	2 March 1827	Barnes
5	Richard Ottley		1 November 1827	1833	Barnes
6	Sir Charles Marshall		18 February 1833	3 March 1836	Wilmot-Horton
7	Sir William Norris		27 April 1836	1837	Wilmot-Horton
8	Sir Anthony Oliphant	Scotland	22 October 1838	1854	Stewart-Mackenzie
9	Sir William Ogle Carr	England	17 April 1854	1856	Anderson
10	Sir William Carpenter Rowe		1857	1859	Ward
11	Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy	England	27 March 1860	1875	Ward
12	William Hackett †		3 February 1877	1877	Gregory
13	Sir John Budd Phear	England	18 October 1877	1879	Longden
14	Richard Cayley	England	1 October 1879	1882
15	Jacobus de Wet	South Africa	31 May 1882	29 May 1883
16	Bruce Burnside	Bahamas	21 May 1883	1893
17	John Winfield Bonser	England	13 November 1893	1902	Havelock
18	Charles Layard	Western Province	26 April 1902	18 June 1906	Ridgeway
19	Joseph Turner Hutchinson	England	23 October 1906	1 May 1911	Blake
20	Alfred Lascelles	England	1 May 1911	1914	McCallum
21	Sir Alexander Wood Renton		22 August 1914	1918	Chalmers
22	Anton Bertram	England	26 July 1918	1925	Anderson
23	Sir Charles Ernest St. John Branch		3 July 1925	25 May 1926	Manning
24	Sir Stanley Fisher		11 December 1926	1930	Clifford
25	Sir Philip James Macdonell		3 October 1930	1936	Thomson
26	Sir Sidney Abrahams	England	3 July 1936	December 1939	Stubbs
27	John Curtois Howard		1 December 1939	1949	Caldecott
28	Arthur Wijewardena		15 January 1949	1950	Moore
29	Sir Edward Jayetileke		1950	11 October 1951
30	Alan Rose	England	11 October 1951	1956
31	Hema Henry Basnayake		1 January 1956	3 August 1964	Viscount Soulbury
32	Miliani Sansoni		3 August 1964	17 November 1966	Gopallawa
33	Hugh Fernando		20 November 1966	17 November 1973	Gopallawa
Chief Justice of Sri Lanka (1972–present)
34	Gardiye Punchihewage Amaraseela Silva		1973	1974	Gopallawa
35	Victor Tennekoon	Central Province	1 January 1974	8 September 1977	Gopallawa
36	Neville Samarakoon°		1977	21 October 1984	Jayewardene
37	Suppiah Sharvananda	Northern Province	29 October 1984	1988
38	Parinda Ranasinghe		1988	1991
39	Herbert Thambiah	Northern Province	1991		Premadasa
40	G. P. S. de Silva		1991	1999	Premadasa
41	Sarath N. Silva		16 September 1999	7 June 2009	Kumaratunga
42	Asoka de Silva♦		8 June 2009	17 May 2011	Rajapaksa
43	Shirani Bandaranayake°	North Western Province	18 May 2011	13 January 2013
	Mohan Peiris♠		15 January 2013	28 January 2015
43	Shirani Bandaranayake	North Western Province	28 January 2015	29 January 2015	Sirisena
44	Kanagasabapathy Sripavan	Northern Province	30 January 2015	28 February 2017
45	Priyasath Dep	Western Province	02 March 2017	Present

References

↑ http://adaderana.lk/news/29632/k-sripavan-sworn-in-as-chief-justice
↑ "History of Supreme Court". Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
↑ Crabtree, James (15 January 2013). "Sri Lanka appoints new chief justice". Financial Times.
↑ Francis, Krishan (15 January 2013). "Sri Lankan leader replaces chief justice with ally". The Guardian/Associated Press.
1 2 3 "Chapter XV - The Judiciary". Constitution of Sri Lanka. priu.gov.lk. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
↑ "Fourth Schedule". Constitution of Sri Lanka. priu.gov.lk. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
↑ "Chapter XVIIA". Constitution of Sri Lanka. priu.gov.lk. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
↑ Amerasinghe, A. Ranjit B (1986), The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka : the first 185 years, Sarvodaya Book Pub. Services, ISBN 978-955-599-000-4
↑ "Overview". Judicial Service Commission Secretariat. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.

External links

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

Chief Justices of Sri Lanka
Carrington Lushington Johnston Giffard Ottley Marshall Norris Oliphant Carr Rowe Creasy Hackett Phear Cayley de Wet Burnside Bonser Layard Hutchinson Lascelles Renton Bertram Branch Fisher Macdonell Abrahams Howard Wijewardena Jayetileke Rose Basnayake Sansoni Fernando Silva Tennekoon Samarakoon Sharvananda Ranasinghe Thambiah de Silva Silva de Silva Bandaranayake Peiris Sripavan

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

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Chief Justice	Kanagasabapathy Sripavan
Puisne Justices	Priyasath Dep Eva Wansundera Buwaneka Aluwihare Sisira De Abrew Priyantha Jayawardena Upaly Abeyratne Anil Goonaratne K. T. Chitrasiri Nalin Perera

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Chief Justices of the Territories of the British Empire and the United Kingdom

Legend: Current territory; Former territory; * Now a Commonwealth realm; Now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Europe
Since 1234 England and Wales Since c.1200 Scotland 1175-1921 Ireland 1708–1757 Minorca Since 1713 Gibraltar 1763–1782 Minorca 1798–1802 Minorca 1800–1813 Malta (Protectorate) 1813–1964 Malta (Colony) 1807–1890 Heligoland 1809–1864 Ionian Islands 1878–1960 Cyprus 1921–1937 Irish Free State Since 1922 Northern Ireland

North America

17th century and before		18th century	19th and 20th century
1579 New Albion 1583–1907 Newfoundland 1605–1979 *Saint Lucia 1607–1776 Virginia Since 1619 Bermuda 1620–1691 Plymouth Colony 1623–1883 Saint Kitts *(Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1624–1966 *Barbados 1625–1650 Saint Croix 1627–1979 *Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1628–1883 Nevis *(Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1629–1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony 1632–1776 Maryland since 1632 Montserrat 1632–1860 Antigua *(Antigua & Barbuda) 1636–1776 Connecticut 1636–1776 Rhode Island 1637–1662 New Haven Colony	1643–1860 Bay Islands Since 1650 Anguilla 1655–1850 Mosquito Coast (protectorate) 1655–1962 *Jamaica 1663–1712 Carolina 1664–1776 New York 1665–1674 and 1702–1776 New Jersey Since 1666 British Virgin Islands Since 1670 Cayman Islands 1670–1973 *Bahamas 1670–1870 Rupert's Land 1671–1816 Leeward Islands 1674–1702 East Jersey 1674–1702 West Jersey 1680–1776 New Hampshire 1681–1776 Pennsylvania 1686–1689 Dominion of New England 1691–1776 Massachusetts	1701–1776 Delaware 1712–1776 North Carolina 1712–1776 South Carolina 1713–1867 Nova Scotia 1733–1776 Georgia 1754–1820 Cape Breton Island 1762–1974 *Grenada 1763–1978 Dominica 1763–1873 Prince Edward Island 1763–1791 Quebec 1763–1783 East Florida 1763–1783 West Florida 1784–1867 New Brunswick 1791–1841 Lower Canada 1791–1841 Upper Canada Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands	1818–1846 Columbia District/Oregon Country¹ 1833–1960 Windward Islands 1833–1960 Leeward Islands 1841–1867 Province of Canada 1849–1866 Vancouver Island 1853–1863 Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands 1858–1866 British Columbia 1859–1870 North-Western Territory 1860–1981 *British Antigua and Barbuda 1862–1863 Stikine Territory 1866–1871 Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1867–1931 *Dominion of Canada² 1871–1964 British Honduras (*Belize) 1882–1983 *Saint Kitts and Nevis 1889–1962 Trinidad and Tobago 1907–1949 Dominion of Newfoundland³ 1958–1962 West Indies Federation

1. Occupied jointly with the United States.
2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. See Canada's name.
3. Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949.

South America
1651–1667 Willoughbyland (Suriname) 1670–1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands⁴ 1831–1966 British Guiana (Guyana) Since 1833 Falkland Islands⁵ Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands⁵
4. Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia. 5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.

Africa

17th and 18th centuries	19th century		20th century
Since 1658 Saint Helena¹⁴ 1792–1961 Sierra Leone 1795–1803 Cape Colony	Since 1815 Ascension Island¹⁴ Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha¹⁴ 1806–1910 Cape Colony 1807–1808 Madeira 1810–1968 Mauritius 1816–1965 The Gambia 1856–1910 Natal 1868–1966 Basutoland (Lesotho) 1874–1957 Gold Coast (Ghana) 1882–1922 Egypt	1884–1966 Bechuanaland (Botswana) 1884–1960 British Somaliland 1887–1897 Zululand 1890–1962 Uganda 1890–1963 Zanzibar (Tanzania) 1891–1964 Nyasaland (Malawi) 1891–1907 British Central Africa Protectorate 1893–1968 Swaziland 1895–1920 East Africa Protectorate 1899–1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan	1900–1914 Northern Nigeria 1900–1914 Southern Nigeria 1900–1910 Orange River Colony 1900–1910 Transvaal Colony 1903–1976 Seychelles 1906–1954 Nigeria Colony 1910–1931 South Africa 1914–1954 Nigeria Colony and Protectorate 1915–1931 South West Africa (Namibia) 1919–1960 Cameroons (Cameroon)⁶ 1920–1963 Kenya 1922–1961 Tanganyika (Tanzania)⁶ 1923–1965 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)⁷ 1924–1964 Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) 1953–1963 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1954–1960 Nigeria 1979–1980 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)⁷

6. League of Nations mandate.
7. Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.

Asia

17th and 18th century	19th century		20th century
1685–1824 Bencoolen (Sumatra) 1702–1705 Pulo Condore 1757-1862 Bengal (to 1862) 1862–1947 Bengal (from 1862) (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh) 1762–1764 Manila and Cavite 1786–1946 Penang (Malaysia) 1795–1948 Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1796–1965 Maldives	1812–1824 Banka (Sumatra) and Billiton (Sumatra) 1819–1826 British Malaya (West Malaysia and Singapore) 1826–1946 Straits Settlements (Malaysia and Singapore) 1839–1967 Colony of Aden 1839–1842 Afghanistan 1841–1997 Hong Kong 1841–1946 Kingdom of Sarawak (Malaysia) 1848–1946 Labuan (Malaysia) 1858–1947 British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma) • Bombay • Calcutta • Madras • North-Western Provinces/Allahabad) 1874–1963 British Borneo (East Malaysia and Brunei)	1879–1919 Afghanistan (protectorate) 1882–1963 British North Borneo (Malaysia) 1885–1946 Unfederated Malay States 1888–1984 Sultanate of Brunei 1891–1971 Muscat and Oman protectorate 1892–1971 Trucial States 1895–1946 Federated Malay States 1898–1930 Weihai Garrison	1907–1949 Bhutan (protectorate) 1918–1961 Kuwait protectorate 1920–1932 Iraq⁸ 1921–1946 Transjordan⁸ 1923–1948 Palestine⁸ 1945–1946 South Vietnam 1946–1963 North Borneo (Malaysia) 1946–1963 Sarawak (Malaysia) 1946–1963 Singapore 1946–1948 Malayan Union 1948–1957 Federation of Malaya (Malaysia) Since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia (before as part of Cyprus) Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory (before as part of Mauritius and the Seychelles)

⁸ League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty

Oceania

18th and 19th centuries		20th century
1788–1901 New South Wales 1803–1901 Tasmania 1807–1863 Auckland Islands⁹ 1824–1980 New Hebrides (Vanuatu) 1824–1901 Queensland 1829–1901 Western Australia 1836–1901 South Australia since 1838 Pitcairn Islands	1841–1907 Colony of New Zealand 1851–1901 Victoria 1874–1970 Fiji¹⁰ 1877–1976 British Western Pacific Territories 1884–1949 Territory of Papua 1888–1901 Cook Islands⁹ 1889–1948 Union Islands (Tokelau)⁹ 1892–1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands¹¹ 1893–1978 British Solomon Islands¹²	1900–1970 Tonga (protected state) 1900–1974 Niue⁹ 1901–1942 Commonwealth of AustraliaNorthern Territory 1907–1953 *Dominion of New Zealand 1919–1942 Nauru 1945–1968 Nauru 1919–1949 Territory of New Guinea 1949–1975 Territory of Papua and New Guinea¹³

9. Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand.
10. Suspended member.
11. Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu.
12. Now the *Solomon Islands.
13. Now *Papua New Guinea.

Antarctica and South Atlantic
Since 1658 Saint Helena¹⁴ Since 1815 Ascension Island¹⁴ Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha¹⁴ Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory¹⁵ 1841–1933 Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia) 1841–1947 Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand)
14. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena. 15. Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands).

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