Sarath Nanda Silva PC served as the 41st Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (; ) is the Supreme court, 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 ...

. He obtained his Primary and Secondary school education at

Trinity College Kandy Trinity College, Kandy is a private Anglican boys' school located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It offers both day and boarding facilities. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on British ...

and continued to

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

. Prior to civil service, his achievements included work obtaining a

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degree

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from the University of Brussels. He was admitted as an Advocate of the

in June 1967 and commenced his career in the

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's department in 1968 as a

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. He was promoted to Senior State Counsel in 1975 and Deputy Solicitor-General in 1979. Appointed a

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the Sri Lankan

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in 1987, he later became the President of the Court in 1994.http://www.justiceministry.gov.lk/courts of Law/THE SUPREME COURT OF SRI LANKA.htm

Controversial appointments and impeachment

Justice Silva was seen as close to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

when first appointed to the Supreme Court in 1995, then serving under her as

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 ...

in 1996 and was appointed 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 ...

the same year. His appointment as Chief Justice in 1999 evoked widespread protest in the media on concerns of there being more qualified and experienced judges in Sri Lanka, and

was perceived as using him to control Court decisions. In his short term on the Court, he had contributed to and rendered decision on many Court cases that appeared to satisfy the Executive President's political needs. In March 2003, the

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released findings on the situation, citing a report from August 2001 where

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came before Silva in June 2001 when an impeachment notice for his position was restrained by his very court. In August 2001, the

(IBA) concluded that there was "an overwhelming need for an independent credible judicial system" in Sri Lanka. It detailed instances of lack of accountability, breach of natural justice and potential for undue interference and pointed out that institutions which should be protecting the rule of law, including the President, government and the Chief Justice, were acting to undermine it. The IBA further opined that other Court members had been removed by Chief Justice Silva without inquiry. Despite these issues, he remained Chief Justice until retirement until 5 June 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Sarath N. Sri Lankan Buddhists Chief justices of Sri Lanka Sinhalese people President's Counsels (Sri Lanka) Living people Attorneys general of Sri Lanka Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College 21st-century Sri Lankan people Judges of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka 1946 births Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy