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Department of the
Attorney General |
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SRI LANKA
Mr Chitta Ranjan de Silva joined Sri Lanka Law College and he was called to the Bar in 1974. He devilled in the chambers of Mr. A. C. De Zoysa and later he worked in the chambers of Mr. Daya Perera, President's Counsel and he joined the Attorney General's Department as a State Counsel in 1975.
He was promoted as a Senior State Counsel in 1983 and was subsequently appointed as a Deputy Solicitor General in 1992. In December 1996 he was appointed as Additional Solicitor General. On the 27th of March 1997 he was called to the Inner Bas as a President's Counsel. He was appointed as a Solicitor General with effect from 15th October 1999. on the 7th of April he was appointed as the Attorney General.
During the last 1 1/2 decades he has appeared in most of the sensational criminal cases in the country including a recent case involving the assassination of a High Court Judge in Colombo. Mr. De Silva's field of expertise has not been limited to the Criminal Law. He has also appeared in some of the most important cases relating to Public Law.
Mr. De Silva has been a member of the Sri Lankan delegation to the Human Rights Committee under the optional; protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
He also has been a member of the Sri Lankan delegation to the United National Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Mr. De Silva was a member of the Committee of Inquiry appointed by the former President, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunge, to extreme causes relating to the accidents and loss of Air Crafts of Sri Lanka Air Force.
Mr. De Silva chaired a committee of inquiry to report on elimination of laws delays. Some of the recommendation of this Committee have already been implemented by the Government.
Mr. De Silva has served as a lecturer and examiner at the Sri Lanka Defence Academy. He has also functioned as an examiner at the Sri Lanka law College.
At present he is a member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka which is entrusted with the task of examining current laws and recommending legal reforms.
Mr. De Silva has serves as a member of the Board of Management of Child Protection Authority, Drug Control Board and the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine.
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The Attorney General’s Department functions with a cadre of 199 professionals which includes the Attorney General, the Solicitor General, 5 Additional Solicitors General, 20 Deputy Solicitors General, 40 Senior State Counsel, and 114 State Counsel, 2 State Attorneys, 5 Senior State Attorneys, 10 Assistant State Attorneys and 1 Accountant.
The Department continues to perform its traditional role of advising Government and its Institutions and representing Government and its Institution in litigation. In the performance of its work, the Department operates in distinct branches. These are the civil branch, the criminal branch, the State Attorneys branch, the Supreme Court branch, and the Corporation branch. There are also special units to which specially identified responsibilities have been assigned. These are, the Missing Persons Unit (which handles matters relating to persons who are alleged to have disappeared), Non-Summary Unit (which was set up to expedite non-summary inquiries in Magistrate’s Courts), the EER Unit (which handles cases under Emergency Regulations), the Habeas Corpus Unit (which handles cases filed in relation to missing persons) Child Abuse Unit and the Public Petitions Unit (which handles public petitions).
Statistics regarding the work out put of the Department is as follows:-
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The
major functions of the Department are :
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