Justice Eugene Reginald de Fonseka, QC (11 March 1912 - 21 September 2003) was a puisne judge of the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

and served as the acting Chief Justice of Sri Lanka of the

in 1960 and 1962.

Education

He obtained his primary and secondary school education at the Royal College Colombo and gained a BSc special in mathematics from the University of London having studied at the University College Colombo.

Legal career

Having studied law at the Ceylon Law College, he was admitted to the bar in July 1945. Having started his practice in the unofficial bar, he joined the Attorney General's Department as a Temporary Additional Crown Counsel in 1947 and was promoted Crown Counsel in 1950. He rose to the position of Deputy Solicitor-General and was appointed as the

Commissioner of Assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

by the Supreme Court of Ceylon and later a puisne judge of the same Court, where on two occasions he served as the acting Chief justice of Ceylon. After he retired he was appointed as the Chairman of the Land Acquisition Board of Review, a member of the Compensation Board under the Land Reform Commission, the Agrarian Services Board of Review, a member of the Income Tax Board of Review and the Chairman of the Debt Conciliation Board. He died on 27 September 2003, at his private residence "Witanhurst" situated within the gardens of his ancestral home, "Greenlands" in Colombo. De Fonseka was a first cousin of Sir

Susantha de Fonseka Sir Susantha de Fonseka KBE (25 April 1900 – 1 January 1963) was a Ceylonese statesmen and diplomat. He was the Deputy Speaker of the State Council of Ceylon and following Ceylon's independence from Britain his first Ambassador to Burma and fir ...

and the paternal uncle of Tissa Abeysekara. He was married Lilian Grace née Gooneratne, had two children Geetha and Piyal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseka, Eugene 1912 births 2003 deaths Acting Chief Justices of Ceylon Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Ceylonese Queen's Counsel Ceylonese advocates Sinhalese judges 20th-century Sri Lankan people Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of Ceylon Law College