Attorney General of Sri Lanka

Attorney General of Sri Lanka
Incumbent Yuwanjana Wanasundera since 23 October 2014 (2014-10-23)
Attorney-General's Department
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	The President with Parliamentary Council advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	James Dunkin as Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon
Formation	19 February 1801 (1801-02-19)
Deputy	Solicitor General of Sri Lanka
Website	Attorney General of Sri Lanka

The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Attorney General is usually a highly respected Senior Advocate, and is appointed by the ruling government. The current Attorney General is Yuwanjana Wanasundera. The president does not have any power to make orders, mandatory or otherwise, to the attorney general. He heads the Attorney-General's Department.

Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the Attorney General of Sri Lanka does not have any executive authority, and is not a political appointee; those functions are performed by the Minister of Justice. The Attorney General is assisted by the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka and several Additional Solicitors General.

List of Attorneys General

Data based on:

• Amerasinghe, A. Ranjit B (1986), The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka: the first 185 years, Sarvodaya

#	Name	Province	Took office	Left office
Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon (1801-1833)
1	James Dunkin		19 February 1801	1802
2	Alexander Johnston	Scotland	7 August 1802	1806
3	James Dunkin		22 April 1806	1808
4	William Coke		5 September 1808	1811
5	Ambrose Hardinge Giffard	Ireland	26 February 1811	1821
6	Henry Matthews		1 November 1821	1829
7	William Norris		28 February 1829	1833
King's Advocate of Ceylon (1833-1838)
8	William Ogle Carr	England	2 April 1833	1838
Queen's Advocate of Ceylon (1838-1884)
9	John Stark		10 December 1838	1840
10	Arthur William Buller		17 October 1840	1848
11	Henry Collingwood Selby		23 June 1848	1858
12	Henry Byerley Thompson		3 May 1858	1863
13	Richard Morgan		1 January 1863	1876
14	Richard Cayley	England	4 April 1876	1879
15	Bruce Burnside	Bahamas	24 October 1879	1883
16	Francis Flemming		4 July 1883	1884
Attorney General of Ceylon (1884-1972)
16	Francis Flemming		1 January 1884	1886
17	Samuel Grenier		30 September 1886	1892
18	Charles Layard	Western Province	1 November 1892	1902
19	Alfred Lascelles	England	18 June 1902	1911
20	Anton Bertram		18 May 1911	1918
21	Henry Gollan		15 October 1918	1924
22	Lancelot Henry Elphinstone		6 October 1924	1929
23	Edward St. John Jackson		12 May 1929	1936
24	John Curtois Howard		27 July 1936	1936
25	John William Ronald Illangakoon		1 October 1936	1942
26	Manikku Wadumestri Hendrick de Silva		7 July 1942	1946
27	Chellappah Nagalingam		25 January 1946	1947
28	Edward Percival Rose		23 October 1947	1951
29	Hema Henry Basnayake		11 October 1951	1956
30	Edward Fredrick Noel Gratiaen		2 May 1956	1957
31	Douglas St. Clive Budd Jansze		1 April 1957	1966
32	Abdul Caffoor Mohamad Ameer		1966	1970
Attorney General of Sri Lanka
33	Victor Tennekoon	Central Province	1 July 1970	1975
34	Shiva Pasupati		5 June 1975	1988
35	Pandikoralalage Sunil Chandra De Silva		1988	1992
36	Tilak Marapana	Sabaragamuwa	1992	1995
37	Shibly Aziz		1995	1996
38	Sarath N. Silva		1996	1999
39	Kandapper Kamalasabayon	Eastern Province	1999	2007
40	Chitta De Silva	Western Province	2007	2008
41	Mohan Peiris		2008	2011
42	Eva Wansundera	North Western Province	2011	2012
43	Palitha Fernando		17 July 2012	23 October 2014
44	Yuwanjana Wanasundera		23 October 2014	Present

See also

• Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
• Solicitor General of Sri Lanka

External links

• Official website