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, sat on the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

and the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Aug ...

Education

Born in Ceylon to G. de Silva. De Silva was educated at Royal College, Colombo,

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

, and entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1911. He graduated in 1914 with a BA in

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...

Legal career

He was called to the English Bar as a barrister in 1916 from the

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

. On his return to he enrolled as an advocate 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 1932. In 1932, he served briefly acting 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 King's Counsel 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 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

, 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 A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

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