BASL presidency election today

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The election for the presidency of Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) will be held today.  

Today’s election is expected to be a battle between prominent criminal lawyer Tiranta Walaliyadda, PC and Human Rights lawyer Upul Jayasuriya. Attorney-at-law R.R.S. Thangarajah, who has regularly contested for the presidency, is also in the fray.

BASL Secretary Sanjaya Gamage said that the necessary arrangements had been taken to hold the election in Bar Association centres located islandwide.

“About 11,000 registered lawyers are eligible to vote at this election, which is scheduled to be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We hope that the final result could be released at around 7:30 p.m.,” the BASL Secretary said.

Walaliyadda is a distinguished old boy of Royal College, Colombo. He entered the Sri Lanka Law College representing the 1974/’75 batch and subsequently held the post of State Counsel in the Attorney General’s Department. He was appointed a President’s Counsel in 2004.

He has figured in a number of sensational public interest cases such as the Saman Kumara ransom murder case in the 1980s as a State Counsel. He was elected to the Bar Council of BASL in 2011. Furthermore, he has appeared as defence counsel for several famous cases including the Udatalawinna massacre, Richard de Zoysa’s murder case, the murder of High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya, and the Angulana murder case. Walaliyadda is currently appearing for the aggrieved party in the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.

Senior Human Rights Lawyer Upul Jayasuriya studied at Royal College Colombo and entered Law College in 1973 at the age of 17. He joined the Bar in 1976 at 21, as the youngest attorney at the time. He obtained his Masters Degree from the University of Sydney with a Distinction and an LL.B. (Honours) degree from the University of London. He joined the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel on 2 January 1978. In 1978 he served as the first Legal Advisor of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission, (present Board of Investment) while being a State Counsel.

He was appointed Chairman of Sri Lanka State Trading Tractor Corporation in 1982. In 1983 he was awarded the Top Young Outstanding Professional Award under the Entrepreneurship category for converting the corporation into a profit making venture.

He was elected as the Secretary to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for the period 1991-1993. During this period he initiated the filing of nearly 3,000 Fundamental Rights applications through the support of the BASL before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on behalf of those taken into custody in the 1989 insurrection.

He was also elected to the presidency of the Colombo Law Society in 2008. Jayasuriya appeared for former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka when he filed a petition challenging presidential election results in 2010.