U.R. de Silva contests 4th presidency at Bar Association of Sri Lanka

The Bar Association remains a non-political entity – as it should. The election of presidents and deputies and the canvassing for votes should be conducted and facilitated only insofar as meaningful, efficient, and productive applicants get through. For the post of the BASL President for the years 2017 and 2018, U.R. de Silva thus presents his credentials to compete and with fortune, win. A victory for U.R. de Silva will very well be a victory for the Association as a whole.

He has credentials as a professional. Educated initially at Ananda College, he passed out of Law College and was admitted as an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court in 1983. He was tutored by the former BASL President Ananda Wijesekara PC. With resounding success, he fought for his clients in several high-profile cases in the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court.

What of his work thereafter? With a formidable majority, he was elected as Secretary of the Bar Association in 2008, and under the leadership of the then President W. Dayaratne PC was able to bring about several much-needed changes to the organisation. Among these, one can count: Organising a series of seminars on various areas of the law (including the Rights and Duties of Criminal Practitioners), turning the National Law Conference into a Residential National Law Conference in 2009, and inaugurating a campaign to supplement the level of legal literacy among members of the public and school children.

What of his policy positions? A firm believer infair play and justice, he has always contended that the urban-rural, popular-outstation divide must be done away with to ensure equality and equity in our legal system. Under his guidance, welfare centres have been set up in almost every part of the country, to expedite the issuing of passports, NICs, BASL identity cards, and car passes. By doing so, he has touched the hearts of not only experienced seniors, but also aspiring juniors.

U.R. de Silva had opted to contest. The election is around the corner. Whether he wins or whether he doesn’t, only time can tell. If he wins, only good will result, for the profession, for the Association, and for practitioners of the law throughout the country. Nomination papers of Udaya Silva were proposed by J. Romesh De Silva, Jayantha Weerasinghe, Rohan Sahabandu, Upali A. Gooneratne, W. Dayaratne, Palitha Mendis Kumarasinghe of President  Council and Seconded by Ali Sabry, Shammil Joseph Perera of President Council and Attorneys at Law L.H.M. Karunarathne Banda, I.W. Nalinda Dammika, R. Titus Manatunga and M. Athula Perera.