C R de Silva

C.R De Silva becomes new AG

Sunday Times: Apr 8 2007

Solicitor General C.R. De Silva was yesterday sworn in as the new Attorney General by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Mr. De Silva had been Solicitor General since 1999.

A product of Royal College, Colombo where he captained the rugby football team in 1968, and the Ceylon Schools rugby football team the same year, Mr. De Silva joined the Sri Lanka Law College and was called to the Bar in 1974. He devilled in the chambers of the late Mr. A.C. 'Bunty' De Zoysa PC, and later worked in the chambers of Mr. Daya Perera PC before joining the Attorney General's Department in 1975.

The new Attorney General took 'silk' as a President's Counsel in 1997, and has been a member of the Sri Lanka delegation to various international bodies including the Afro-Asian Legal Consultative Committee, UN Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights Committee, UN Convention Against Torture Committee and the UN Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

He has been an Examiner at the Sri Lanka Defence Academy and at Sri Lanka Law College, and appeared in some leading cases among which were the senior Customs Officer Amarapala murder case, Tony Martin murder trial, the Rita Manoharan trial-at-bar; and the Justice Sarath Ambepitiya murder case.

Mr. De Silva has been a member of the Child Protection Authority and the Drug Control Board.

He hails from an illustrious legal family where his father Justice K.D. De Silva was a Judge of the Supreme Court. His two elder brothers are active practioners in the civil courts in the country.

Senior Additional Solicitor General Priyasad Dep is to succeed Mr. De Silva as Solicitor General