Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Priyasath Dep PC ( si, ප්‍රියසාත් ඩෙප් ; born October 12, 1953) 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 judge and lawyer. He was the 45th

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

and a former

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 ...

Early life and education

Dep's father was Arthur C. Dep a police officer, who retired as a

Deputy Inspector General of Police A Deputy Inspector General of Police (abbreviated as DIG) is a high-ranking official position in Police in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. India Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) is a rank i ...

. Educated at St. Joseph's College,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, where he excelled in studies, athletics, rugby, and soccer. Dep obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Development Studies at the

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

. He represented the university in rugby and cricket.

Legal career

Studying law at 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 was called to bar in October 1976 and began his legal practice. In January 1978, he joined the Attorney General's Department as a State Counsel. In February 1989 he was promoted to Senior State Counsel and in February 1996 he was promoted to Deputy Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor General in October 1999. He was appointed a

President's Counsel President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appoint ...

in April 2000. In 2007, he was appointed Solicitor General and served in this post till 2011. During his tenure in the Attorney General’s Department, Dep won a scholarship by the

Dutch Government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

that enabled him to acquire a post-graduate diploma in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Neth ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. As a prosecutor he was involved in the Amarapala (Deputy Director of Customs) Murder case, Inoka Sevwandi Murder and the Sujith Prasanna Perera (Superintendent of Customs) Murder. He had served as the head of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Department.

Judaical career

In 2011, he left the Attorney General’s Department, when he was appointed to a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. On February 27, 2017 he was nominated by the Constitutional Council as the 45th

and was sworn in in March.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dep, Priyasath Chief justices of Sri Lanka Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Sinhalese judges 20th-century Sri Lankan people 21st-century Sri Lankan people Solicitors General of Sri Lanka Living people 1953 births Sri Lankan judges on the courts of Fiji Supreme Court of Fiji justices