Sir Lalitha Abhaya Rajapaksa, QC (born Louis Alexander Rajapakse; 3 May 1900 – 25 May 1976) was a

Ceylon 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, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

ese lawyer and politician. He was the first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and a member of the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the Parliament of Ceylon, parliament of Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It ...

Early life and education

Born Louis Alexander Rajapakse at Herambe Walauwwa in the southern coastal town of Balapitiya, Rajapakse received his primary and secondary education in Ananda College, and Saint Joseph's College, Colombo. He joined the first batch of students to enter the

University College, Colombo Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

, where he was the first cricket captain and won the Obeysekara gold medal in athletics in 1922. He graduated in 1922 with a BA degree from the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the collegiate university, federal University of London. All courses ...

and proceeded to London where he attended

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He obtained a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1924, became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

having

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1924 from the

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1925, he achieved the feat of youngest person at the time to receive

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LLD) in the world.

Legal career

On his return to Ceylon 1925, Rajapakse began his legal practice 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 ...

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 ...

, mainly in civil law in apex courts. He served as a lecturer and examiner at the Ceylon Law College and was a member of the Council of Legal Education. In 1944, he took silk 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 ...

and was appointed Commissioner of Assize in 1946, an appointment he relinquished quickly and returned to his lucrative legal practice.

Politician and Diplomat

Rajapakse was a founding member of the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

in 1947 and was appointed to the

and became the leader of the house. He was soon after appointed by Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake as the first

. In 1948 he was appointed to the seven member flag committee that consisted of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, J. R. Jayawardene,

John Kotelawala General (Sri Lanka), General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala (; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956. Born to a wealthy landholding and mining f ...

, T. B. Jayah, G. G. Ponnambalam and S. Nadesan. He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours. He resigned as Minister of Justice in 1953, after Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala requested his resignation from the cabinet and returned to his legal practice. In 1965, he actively campaigned for the United National Party, specking of authoritarian actions of the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

, following its attempts to nationalize Lake House. Following the United National Party victory in the 1965 general elections, he was appointed Ceylon's Ambassador to France in 1965. In February 1967 he was appointed the Ceylon's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom which he held until October 1969. Rajapakse died on 25 May 1976, at the age of 76.

Family

Rajapakse married Chrisoble Mendis Gunasekara, her sister Ruby Mendis Gunasekara became the first lady

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

in Ceylon. Their son Bimal, became a barrister from

and they had two daughters, Ramani became a proctor and headed the All Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress and Vineetha who married Jayantha Gunasekera is a

President's Counsel A president's counsel ( postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapakse, Lalitha Members of justice of Sri Lanka Members of the Senate of Ceylon Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Ceylonese advocates Sri Lankan barristers Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of Sri Lanka Law College Members of Lincoln's Inn Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to France Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Switzerland High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom 1900 births 1976 deaths

Early life and education

Legal career

Politician and Diplomat

Family

See also

References