Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Siva Selliah (1924–1997) was a

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, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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 ...

. He was a former justice of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, judge of the High Court and a magistrate. He was also a member of the Governing Council of the

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

. He was born ''Sivanathan Selliah'' in 1924 to Nallithamby Selliah, a stockbroker in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. He was educated at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

, and entered the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

where he obtained a degree in classics. Thereafter he chose the field of law, studying at the

Colombo 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 ...

. After taking oaths as a lawyer, he joined the judiciary as a magistrate. Later, he became a High Court judge, and then a justice of the Court of Appeals until his retirement in 1987. After his retirement he became a member of the Governing Council of the University of Colombo and member of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. Married to Bavani Selliah, his son is Dr. Sivakumar Selliah and daughters Selvalakshmi and Sivakami. Their family hails from

Manipay Manipay or Maanippaai () is a town in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. The original name of Manipay is Periyapulam. It was a mission location when the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) came to Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Dr. Samuel Fisk ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Siva Selliah Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan Hindus Alumni of Royal College, Colombo 1924 births 1997 deaths Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Judges of the high courts of Sri Lanka Magistrates of Sri Lanka Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka judges