The Legal Secretary of Ceylon, was an officer of state of the British Colonial Administration of

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 ...

from 1931 to 1947, appointed from the

Colonial Legal Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

. The Legal Secretary one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers of the

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 ...

, who serve as the legal advisor to the government; administration of justice; criminal prosecutions and civil proceeding on behalf of the crown; election to the State Council, drafting of legislature and the

public trustee The public trustee is an office established pursuant to national (and, if applicable, state or territory) statute, to act as a trustee, usually when a sum is required to be deposited as security by legislation, if courts remove another trustee, o ...

. The post was formed under recommendations of the

Donoughmore Commission The Donoughmore Commission (DC) was responsible for the creation of the Donoughmore Constitution in effect between 1931–47 in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). In 1931 there were approximately 12% Ceylonese Tamils, 12% Indian Tamils (migrant an ...

the post replaced the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

as the chief legal advisor to the Governor, it was in turn replaced by the post of

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

in 1947 under the recommendations of the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

under the Ceylon Independence Act, 1947 and The Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947.

Departments

* Attorney General's Department * The Fiscals * The Public Trustee * Legal Draftsman * District Courts * Courts of Requests * Magistrate's courts * Village Tribunals

List of Legal Secretaries

* Edward St John Jackson (1932-1936) - ''Legal Secretary and Attorney General'' *

John Curtois Howard Sir John Curtois Howard KC (15 January 1887 – 19 November 1970) was an English magistrate who was the 27th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed in 1939 succeeding the acting Francis Soertsz and was Chief Justice until 1945. He was succee ...

(1936-1940) *

Robert Harry Drayton Sir Robert Harry Drayton (14 April 1892 - 20 February 1963), was a lawyer and a senior colonial civil servant who worked in Palestine, Tanganyika, Ceylon, Jamaica and Pakistan. He served as the Chief Secretary of Ceylon from 1942 to 1947 and ...

(1940-1942) *

John Harry Barclay Nihill Sir John Harry Barclay Nihill, (27 July 1892 – December 1975) was a British lawyer and administrator who served throughout the British Empire. Biography He was born in Hastings, Sussex in 1892. He was educated at Felsted School and read histor ...

(1942-1946)

References

Legal Secretary of Ceylon Defunct government positions in Sri Lanka Law of Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-hist-stub

Departments

List of Legal Secretaries

See also

References