Sir George Desmond Lorenz de Silva, (13 December 1939 – 2 June 2018) was a British
criminal law barrister and
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
yer who served as the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
Chief
War Crimes Prosecutor in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
.
Early life
Desmond de Silva was of
Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan, English, and Scottish descent, and comes from a family of lawyers. He was the son of
Fredrick de Silva
Edmund Fredrick Lorenz de Silva, (1912 – 1993) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. He was the Mayor of Kandy, Member of Parliament and Sri Lanka's Ambassador to France.
Early life and legal career
Born to George E. de Silva a prominent p ...
MBE, formerly
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
's ambassador to France and Switzerland, and his wife Esme Gregg de Silva;
[ a grandson of George E. de Silva; and a second cousin of Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Educated at ]Dulwich College Preparatory School
Dulwich Prep London (DPL), formerly known as Dulwich College Preparatory School, is an independent preparatory school in Dulwich, south London, England for boys aged 3–13 years. The current Head Master is Louise Davidson.
In 1938 headmas ...
, London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and Trinity College, Kandy
Trinity College, Kandy, is an independent private school for boys in Kandy Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on Public School (United Kingdom), British Public school tradi ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, de Silva trained as a barrister at the Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
, London.[ "De Silva, Rt Hon. Sir Desmond (George Lorenz)", in '' Who's Who and Who Was Who'', online edition, https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U13560
Published 01 December 2018: "De Silva, Rt Hon. Sir Desmond (George Lorenz) (13 Dec. 1939–2 June 2018), QC 1984; international lawyer; Chief Prosecutor of UN-sponsored Special Court for Sierra Leone, 2005–06; Kt 2007; PC 2011; Born 13 Dec. 1939; s of late Edmund Frederick Lorenz de Silva, MBE, and Esme Gregg de Silva…"]
Career
De Silva was called to the bar from the Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
in 1964, and was appointed a Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
in 1984.[ A member of the Criminal Bar Association and the International Association of Prosecutors, he became one of the highest-profile criminal Queen's Counsel in England. In 2002, the UN ]Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derive ...
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the found ...
appointed him as Deputy Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibil ...
, at the level of an Assistant Secretary-General, and in 2005 promoted him to the post of Chief Prosecutor at the higher level of Under Secretary-General. Silva brought about the arrest of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, who was convicted of war crimes at the Hague in 2011.
In 2003, de Silva was sent as envoy by the United Nations Development Programme to Belgrade to persuade Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and his government to surrender indicted war criminals. He became a senior associate member of St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics ...
, and a Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.[ De Silva's legal expertise included war crimes, crimes against humanity, espionage, treason, drugs, terrorism, human rights, white-collar fraud and sports law. His clients included ]John Terry
John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the ...
, Lee Bowyer, Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 ...
,[ ]Harry Redknapp
Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In hi ...
, Ron Atkinson
Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits.
Ni ...
, Hans Segers, Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio (born 10 August 1972), known as Lawrence Dallaglio, is an English retired rugby union player, former captain of England, and 2016 inductee of the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
He played as a flanker or number eight f ...
, Graham Rix
Graham Cyril Rix (born 23 October 1957) is an English former professional football player who later became a coach and manager. He is the current manager of Fareham Town.
He played for Arsenal for thirteen years, then Brentford (on loan), Ca ...
and Jamie Osborne. De Silva was a member of the Governing Council of the Manorial Society.
In October 2011, with the approval of Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, de Silva was appointed to head a Review into collusion by the security services and other agencies of the state into the 1989 murder of the high-profile Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane
Patrick Finucane (; 21 March 1949 – 12 February 1989) was an Irish lawyer who specialised in criminal defence work. Finucane came to prominence due to his successful challenge of the British government in several important human rights cases ...
. The report was published on 12 December 2012, and acknowledged "a willful and abject failure by successive Governments"; however, Finucane's family called the de Silva report a "sham". In 2019 the Supreme Court ruled that the official investigation into the Finucane murder was ineffective and failed to meet the required human rights standards.
On 23 July 2010, he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters that led to 9 deaths. In 2014, he was Chairman of an Inquiry into torture and executions of detainees in Syria. The Report produced went before the Geneva 11 Peace Talks into the civil war in Syria. On 10 January 2016, a Senior Army Commander complained about a "witch hunt" against British soldiers who were Iraq War veterans by pursuing frivolous legal claims. De Silva agreed with the Army Chief by saying, "Up to now nobody has got these ambulance-chasing lawyers by the scruff of the neck."
Personal life and death
He married Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia
Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, Lady de Silva (born 28 November 1959) is an English businessperson specialising in etiquette and decorum courses. She is a member of the extended former Yugoslavian royal family.
Early life
Katarina was born in L ...
on 5 December 1987. She was the daughter of Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia
Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia ( sr-cyr, Томислав Карађорђевић, Tomislav Karađorđević; 19 January 1928 – 12 July 2000) was a member of the House of Karađorđević, the second son of King Alexander I and Queen Maria of Y ...
and Princess Margarita of Baden, a granddaughter of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I ( sr-Cyrl, Александар I Карађорђевић, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, ) ( – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier, was the prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later the King of Yug ...
and the great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. They divorced on 6 May 2010. He had one sister, Helga de Silva, whose son Detmar Blow was married to the late Isabella Blow.
Sir Desmond de Silva died on 2 June 2018 after a stroke following elective heart surgery in November 2017.
Honours
De Silva was knighted in the 2007 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
, and was also a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John[ and a Knight Commander of the ]Royal Order of Francis I
The Royal Order of Francis I (properly 'The Royal Order of Francis I of the Two Sicilies' it, Reale Ordine di Francesco I) was an extinct order of merit of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was annexed in 1861 by the King of Italy (un ...
. He was sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in October 2011. On 22 August 2016, Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia
Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia ( sr, Александар Карађорђевић, Престолонаследник Југославије; born 17 July 1945 in London), is the head of the House of Karađorđević, the former royal ...
awarded him with the Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle.
References
External links
www.sirdesmonddesilvaqc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Silva, Sir Desmond Lorenz
1939 births
2018 deaths
English King's Counsel
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
English barristers
Members of the Middle Temple
British officials of the United Nations
Special Court for Sierra Leone prosecutors
Knights Bachelor
Lawyers awarded knighthoods
Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy
English people of Sri Lankan descent
English people of Scottish descent
Desmond Desmond or Desmond's may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith
* '' Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom
Ireland
* Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom
* Earl of Desmond, Iris ...