Hema Henry Basnayake, QC (3 August 1902 – ?) was the 31st

Chief Justice of Ceylon The chief justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the chief justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

as well as the 29th

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and 16th

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

. He was appointed in 1956 succeeding acting Chellappah Nagalingam and was Chief Justice until 1964.

Legal career

Basnayake was admitted as an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

on 9 March 1927. Starting his

legal practice Legal practice is sometimes used to distinguish the body of judicial or administrative precedents, rules, policies, customs, and doctrines from legislative enactments such as statutes and constitutions which might be called "laws" in the strict ...

in the

Unofficial Bar The unofficial bar in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separa ...

, he acted as a

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

on several occasions between May 1928 to June 1932. On 20 June 1932, he was appointed Crown Counsel. From Oct 1937 to September 1937, he served as Commissioner for preparation and revision of the Legislative Enactments of Ceylon. In 1939, he served as acting Assistant Legal Draftsman and was promoted to Senior Crown Counsel on 1 October 1944. During this time he served on several occasions as acting Solicitor General. On 1 March 1945, he was appointed Solicitor General and took silks as a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1946. He served as acting Attorney General on several occasions. On 23 October 1947, he was appointed a

Puisne Justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (; ) is the highest court in Sri Lanka and the final judicial instance of record. Established in 1801 and empowered to exercise its powers subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the Supreme C ...

. On 11 October 1951, he was appointed

and held the position until 31 December 1955. He prosecuted journalist Herbert Hulugalle on charge of contempt of court and secured a conviction resulting in a two day jail sentence for Hulugalle. Hulugalle was defended by

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

. On 1 January 1956, he was appointed

, succeeding Sir Alan Rose and held the position until his retirement on 31 July 1964. He was succeeded by

Miliani Sansoni Deshamanya Miliani Edward Claude Sansoni (18 November 1904 – 1979) was a Ceylonese judge, who served as the 32nd Chief Justice of Ceylon. Early life and education Born on 18 November 1904 to Claude Aldons Sansoni, JP, a Proctor and Hilda Gr ...

. He succeeded

Peter de Abrew Peter De Abrew, MBE (1862–1940) was a Ceylonese industrialist and philanthropist. Born to William de Abrew, a successful businessman of Portuguese descent, Peter De Abrew was educated at the Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo). Going in ...

as a trustee of

Musaeus College Musaeus College is a Buddhist private girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The school is named after its founding principal, Marie Musaeus Higgins (1855 – 10 July 1926) from Wismar, Germany, who served as the school's principal from 1891 t ...

in 1940 and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Sinha Basnayake is his son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basnayake, Hema Henry 1902 births Year of death missing 20th-century Sri Lankan people Chief justices of Ceylon Attorneys general of Ceylon Solicitors general of Ceylon Ceylonese Queen's Counsel Ceylonese advocates Sinhalese people People from British Ceylon