Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sarath Palitha Fernando, PC, VNF is a

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 ...

n lawyer. He is the former

Attorney General of Sri Lanka 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 go ...

and had served as

Solicitor General of Sri Lanka 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 ...

and

Judge Advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...

of the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

Education

Educated at the

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 ...

, where he captained the College English and Sinhala debating teams, served as student chairman of the College English Literary Association and general secretary of the Sinhala Literary Association. He also became the President of the Young Zoologists' Association of Sri Lanka in 1976. Entering the

Sri Lanka Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

he passed the preliminary and final examinations with First Class Honours, gaining the Prize for Commercial Law and the Hector Jayawardena Gold Medal. He gained an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

as an external student and went on to gain two LL.M.s, one in International Law from the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

and another in International Commercial Law from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Legal career

After taking oaths as an attorney at law he joined the Attorney General's Department as an acting

State Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictio ...

in 1980, later becoming a Senior State Counsel in 1989 and Deputy Solicitor General in 1997. During this time he prosecuted in several major crime cases. Having joined the Volunteer Naval Force in 1989 as a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, in 2004 he was appointed Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy, to head its legal branch. He had served as prosecutor and also Judge Advocate at several Courts Martial of all three Services, including the Court-Martial of the Commander Southern Naval Command in 2008.Court-martial of Southern Naval Area Commander
/ref> In 2011, he was appointed Solicitor General and served as acting Attorney General from July 2011 until formal appointment in June 2012. He retired from the post on 23 October 2014. He is a visiting lecturer at the

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) ( Sinhala: ජෙනරාල් ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ''General Sir John Kotelawala'' ''Ar ...

Open University of Sri Lanka "The Open University of Sri Lanka" (OUSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විවෘත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை திறந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a national universit ...

and a faculty member of

Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute (BIDTI) is the institute in Colombo where Sri Lanka Overseas Service officers are trained. The Institute functions under Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategi ...

References

External links

Attorney-General's Department
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Palitha Living people F President's Counsels (Sri Lanka) Sinhalese lawyers Sri Lankan rear admirals Sinhalese military personnel Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Colombo Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College F Year of birth missing (living people)