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Sarath Jayamanne PC to contest BASL presidency next year
View(s):Former Bribery Commission Director General and longtime state prosecutor Sarath Jayamanne, PC has declared that he will contest for the post of president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for 2023/24. The election is due in February next year.
Having graduated with a BA in Applied Science (biology, mathematics and physics) from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, he enrolled at the Sri Lanka Law College, where he was also the captain of the Rugby Football team. He was admitted to the Bar in 1988 and went on to obtain a Master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Oxford.
Sarath Jayamanne
He is an old boy of Katugastota St. Anthony’s College, where he was the Head Prefect. He received Silk as President’s Counsel in 2015.
Mr. Jayamanne had a 32-year long career at the Attorney-General’s Department, where he rose to the post of Senior Additional Solicitor-General. He was the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for three years, and was also a visiting Judge of the Court of Appeal of Fiji.
He has been a lecturer in Criminal Procedure and Evidence at Law College, the Law Faculty, the Open University, and the Kotalawela Defence University. He has authored a seminal text on Evidence, titled Yali Mawena Aparadayak (“Crime Recreated”), and will soon add to this with two new chapters on the topics of Fair Trial and The Role of the Attorney-General. He has also penned numerous articles on varied topics for Law Journals.
While serving in the Attorney General’s Department, he was involved in the prosecution of many landmark cases, such as the Kobeigane Beauty Queen murder case, the Hokandara murder case, the trial of the murder of High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya, the Embilipitiya Youth Disappearance case, the Mirusuvil mass murder case and the prosecution of a senior minister’s wife charged with double murder.
Additionally, he was part of a team of prosecutors who were instrumental in introducing DNA evidence and telephone evidence to the Sri Lanka courts. He says he achieved these successes with the support of senior and junior prosecutors who worked with him.
As the Director-General of the CIABOC, he introduced Sri Lanka’s first ever National Action Plan for combating bribery and corruption, and helped draft a new Bribery Law. He has worked closely with the anti-corruption agencies in several countries and played a pivotal role in facilitating the formulation of the Colombo Commentary on the Jakarta Statement on Principles for Anti-Corruption Agencies.
It was during his tenure that in one of the most high profile cases, the then President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff was arrested following a raid by the CIABOC.
On the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he made representations to the relevant entities in Sri Lanka regaining the GSP Plus concessions. As a member of the private Bar, Mr. Jayamanne’s practice spans all aspects of public law, including Criminal Law and Administrative Law.
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