Lucien Macull Dominic de Silva, QC, PC (25 April 1893 – 28 November 1962) was a Ceylonese lawyer and judge, who was a

Solicitor General of Ceylon The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka. The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka assists the Attorney General, and is assisted by four Additional Solicitors General. Note that the post was Solicit ...

, sat on the Supreme Court of Ceylon and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Education

Born in Ceylon to G. de Silva. De Silva was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

, Trinity College, Kandy, and entered

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1911. He graduated in 1914 with a BA in Mathematical Tripos.

Legal career

He was called to the English Bar as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1916 from the Gray's Inn. On his return to he enrolled as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and started his legal practice in the unofficial bar. He was appointed Solicitor-General for Ceylon in 1931, serving till 1934 and was appointed a Ceylonese

King'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 1932. In 1932, he served briefly

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

Attorney General for Ceylon. In 1933, he was appointed Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He retired from the service of the government of Ceylon in 1934. In 1938 he was appointed an English

in 1932. He was appointed chairman of the Commission to Enquire into Bribery, State Council, Ceylon from 1941 to 1943, which found several elected members of

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

has accepted bribes, resulting in their removal from the State Council. He thereafter served as the chairman of the Commission to enquire into Law relating to Mortgage, Credit Facilities and Protection of Lands of Agriculturists, Ceylon, 1943–45; chairman, Delimitation Commission, Ceylon, 1946. He was Ceylon's delegate to the Commonwealth Conference on Citizenship, 1947; chairman, Commission to enquire into Law Relating to Companies, Ceylon, 1948; Ceylon Delegate, Commonwealth Relations Conference, Canada, 1949. In 1951, the Ceylon government decided to seek the appointment of a semi-permanent judge from the island to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and de Silva was selected to fill the vacancy. For tax reasons, on 1 October 1952, de Silva was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. In January 1953, de Silva reached London and began to sit on the Judicial Committee. De Silva became a Bencher of Gray's Inn and was elected an honorary fellow of St John's College, Cambridge in 1956. He married Anne Edwards, daughter of George G. Edwards, of Liandrinio, Montgomeryshire in 1930. They had no children. He died on 28 November 1962 following a brief illness at his home in Willow Brook, Hassocks, Sussex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Silva, Lucien Macull Dominic Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Ceylonese members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon Solicitors General of Ceylon Ceylonese Queen's Counsel English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel 20th-century Sri Lankan judges Sri Lankan barristers Ceylonese advocates Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn 1893 births 1962 deaths