Sanjay Rajaratnam,
PC 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 current
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 ...
. He previously served as the
Acting Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from October 2019 up until May 2021.
Education
Rajaratnam received his primary and secondary education at the
St. Peter's College, Bambalapitiya and
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 ...
. He then entered 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 ...
and qualified as an
attorney-at-law
Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the United ...
. Rajaratnam also received an
LL.M. from the
Queen Mary University of London
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
and qualified as a
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
.
Legal career
He joined the
Attorney General's Department in April 1988 as a
State Counsel. He was later promoted as Senior State Counsel, and then Deputy Solicitor General.
In 2014, he was appointed as the
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 ...
by the then Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
.
In October 2019, he replaced
Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe
Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe also simply known as Dilrukshi Dias is the 46th Solicitor General of Sri Lanka. She has held several posts during her career including the position of Director General of the Bribery Commission. In September 2019, s ...
as the acting
solicitor general following the latter's leaked controversial phone call with Avant Garde chairman.
On 20 May 2021, the Parliamentary Council approved the appointment of Sanjay Rajaratnam to the position of Attorney General of Sri Lanka replacing
Dappula de Livera
Dappula de Livera is a Sri Lankan lawyer and the former Attorney General of Sri Lanka. He previously served as the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from February 2018 and took over as acting attorney general from 29April 2019 until his formal appo ...
.
References
External links
Attorney-General's Department
{{Authority control
Attorneys General of Sri Lanka
Solicitors General of Sri Lanka
President's Counsels (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers
21st-century Sri Lankan lawyers
20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of St. Peter's College, Colombo
Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College
Alumni of Queen Mary University of London
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people