President’s Counsels now similar to Public Notaries

Monday, 15 October 2012

The qualifications of some of the lawyers who were appointed as President’s Counsels have sparked a discussion in Aluthkade about the need to differentiate between a President’s Counsel and a Public Notary.

Although the President had tried to show that the appointment of President’s Counsels was done without making any differentiation based on political affiliations, there have been some political favourations in some appointments. The lawyer who appeared for Sarath Fonseka in the White Flag case, Nalin Ladduwahetty and lawyers affiliated to the UNP Dulinda Weerasuriya, Lakshman Perera and Ronald Perera were appointed as President’s Counsels.

The Presidential Media Unit has said that Ladduwahetty’s name had been proposed to the President by DNA MP Tirna Alles while Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had proposed the names of Weerasuriya, Lakshman Perera and Ronald Perera.

However, the President had cut the name of lawyer Saliya Peiris, who had appeared for many controversial and landmark cases. A lawyer who was appointed as a President’s Counsel had told the President a few weeks earlier that Saliya Peiris was engaged in a conspiracy against the government.

President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), President’s Counsel and parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakse said there was no proper mechanism or criteria in choosing President’s Counsel appointees.

He noted that the lack of a mechanism and criteria had resulted in unsuitable persons being appointed to the posts.

He explained that Sri Lanka did not follow proper guidelines in allocating posts of President’s Counsel unlike countries like Great Britain.

He pointed out that earlier the appointments were made in consultation with the Attorney General and the Chief Justice, but it has now become a political process.

The President initially decided on appointing 17 new President’s Counsel, but later decided to increase the number to 21.

The number had increased to 21 with the sudden addition of four opposition lawyers to the list.