Manikku Wadumestri Hendrick de Silva, QC (22 September 1886 - 6 March 1960) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

lawyer, judge and statesman. He served in several top legal positions in the island, as the 26th

Attorney General of Ceylon 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 gov ...

, a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon and finally the

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 ...

in the cabinet of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike as a member of the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Coun ...

Legal career

Having graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, de Silva became an Advocate. Joining the Attorney General's Department, de Silva served as a

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Advo ...

and a Senior Crown Counsel, before being appointed Deputy Solicitor General. As Deputy Solicitor General, de Silva led the prosecution of the famous Duff House murder case in 1934. He served as Solicitor General of Ceylon from 1941 to 1942, in which year he was also appointed King's Counsel. He was appointed Attorney General of Ceylon on 7 July 1942, succeeding John William Ronald Illangakoon, and held the office until 1946. He was succeeded by Chellappah Nagalingam. He was thereafter called to the bench as an acting

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

, but retired in 1947 to take up appointment as Representative of the Government of Ceylon in India, serving until Ceylon gained self rule in 1948. In 1949, he chaired the commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of bribery in the

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...

Minister of Justice

He was appointed to the

and made

by Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1956. He introduced conciliation boards through the ''Conciliation Broads Act'' and attempted to regulate fees charged by proctors and advocates, but was met by stiff resistance from the legal practitioners which included threats of trade union action. He served until June 1959 when he resigned from the Cabinet, two days after a Cabinet reshuffle in which he retained the seat.

Family

He was the great uncle of

Harsha de Silva Harsha de Silva ( si, හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා born 30 August 1964) is a Sri Lankan economist and politician. He is a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District and former Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distri ...

References

Justice ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the Senate of Ceylon Attorneys General of British Ceylon Solicitors General of Ceylon Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon Sinhalese judges Sinhalese lawyers Ceylonese advocates 20th-century King's Counsel Ceylonese Queen's Counsel High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India 1886 births 1960 deaths {{SriLanka-politician-stub