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
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 ...
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