Victor Tennekoon QC (9 September 1914 – April 1990) 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, ...

n lawyer and jurist. He served as the 35th

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka 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 ...

, as well as the 33rd

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 23rd

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 ...

. From 1979 to 1984 Tennekoon served as Chancellor of the

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya (, ) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka, University Grants Commission. It is the largest university in Sri Lanka, which was origin ...

Early life and education

Born on 9 September 1914 in the Central Province of

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

, he had four brothers; Herbert Tennekoon, former Governor of the

Central Bank of Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; ), known until 1985 as the Central Bank of Ceylon, is the central bank of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA) and in terms of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ac ...

; Reginald Tennekoon, member of parliament for Minipe; George Tennekoon, Professor of Pathology,

and Kenneth Tennekoon, an engineer who emigrated to the UK in 1956 and one sister Dulcie Wijenaike. He received his education at

St. Anthony's College, Kandy St. Anthony's College, Kandy (, ) is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1844 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestr ...

; gained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

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 ...

and subsequently entered the

Ceylon 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 ...

. He was

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 ...

on 4 May 1943 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 ...

Legal career

Tennekoon started his legal practice 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 ...

Kegalle Kegalle (; ) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo, from Kandy, from Kurunegala and from Avissavella. It is the main town in the Kegalle District, which i ...

and was appointed a Temporary Additional Crown Counsel on 1 October 1946 in the Attorney-General's Department. From 14 March 1949 to 5 March 1951, he was seconded to serve as the Secretary to the Kandyan Peasantry Commission. In September 1949 he was appointed Crown Counsel; in November 1955, he was appointed Acting Senior Crown Counsel and in May 1956 confirmed as Senior Crown Counsel. Between April 1957 and June 1961, he served as Acting Deputy Solicitor General. Although he specialized in civil law, he attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

on a senior fellowship in constitutional law from the

Asia Foundation The Asia Foundation (TAF) is a nonprofit international development organization focused on improving lives across Asia. Its programs operate in various sectors, including governance, women's empowerment and gender equality, inclusive economic gr ...

between September 1961 to March 1962 and on his return joined the Attorney-General's prosecution team in the 1962 coup d'état attempt. Appointed Solicitor General of Ceylon in 1964 he played a key role formulating the

Sirima–Shastri Pact The Sirima–Shastri Pact or Srimavo-Shastri Pact (also known as the ''Indo-Ceylon Agreement'' and ''Bandaranaike-Shastri Pact'') was an agreement that was signed between Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, and Lal Bahadur Sha ...

working as an advisor to the government on aspects of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

relating to the nationality problems of

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamils, Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. They are also known as Malayaga Tamilar, Hill Country Tamils, Up-Country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils. They predominantly descend from workers sent during the Br ...

in collaboration with Sir

Humphrey Waldock Sir Claud Humphrey Meredith Waldock, (13 August 1904 – 15 August 1981) was a British jurist and international lawyer. Education Waldock was born to a tea planter and his wife in Colombo, Ceylon. He attended Uppingham School and went up to ...

. In 1965 he took silks as a

Queen'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 1967, he was appointed to 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 ...

as 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 ...

. He was the first

Kandyan Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, ...

to serve in the Supreme Court bench, serving from 8 February 1967 to 1 July 1970. In July 1970, he was appointed

. During his term, he created the controversial Criminal Justice Commission to prosecute a large number of suspects of the

1971 JVP insurrection The 1971 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection (also known as the 1971 Revolt) was the first of two unsuccessful armed revolts conducted by the communist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the socialist United Front Government of ...

, which was later extended to prosecute exchange control violators. Reaching the public service retirement age of 60, he was appointed a Judge of the

Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka, commonly known as the Appeal Court, is the second most senior court in the Sri Lankan legal system, with only the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka above it. Established in 1971, under the Court of Appeal Act No. 4 ...

in August 1973 and served till 31 December 1973. On 1 January 1974 he was appointed Chief Justice, succeeding Gardiye Punchihewage Amaraseela Silva and served till his retirement on 8 September 1977.

Later work

Following his retirement, Tennekoon served in many capacities. He served as the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Development Councils from 1977 to 1980; Law Commission, the Salaries Review Committee, LB Finance Company, the Central Hospitals Ltd, and Deputy Chairman of the

Commercial Bank of Ceylon Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (CBC) also known as ComBank is a licensed commercial bank in Sri Lanka and its ownership is private. It was incorporated as a public limited company and it is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. It is regarded ...

. In 1984 he chaired the Ministry of Justice Law's Delays seminar and the Committee on the Courts of Appeal. Tennekoon served as Chancellor of the

from 1979 to 1984, he was conferred the honorary degree of

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 ...

(LL.D.)

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by the university. He was conferred the national honour of the title of

Deshamanya Deshamanya (; ; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a civil honour. It is awarded for "''highly meritorious service''", and is conventionally used as a title or prefi ...

in the first ever Independence Day National Honours list in 1986.

Family

Tennekoon was married to Semitha Wijewardena, niece of Don Richard Wijewardena. They had son Asita and two daughters Dayanthi and Priyani.

References

External links

Travels of Sri Lanka President
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennekoon, Victor 1914 births Year of death missing Ceylonese Queen's Counsel Deshamanya Chief justices of Sri Lanka Attorneys general of Sri Lanka Solicitors general of Sri Lanka 20th-century Sri Lankan people Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy Puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon Sinhalese people Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka judges