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Resurrecting image of BASL his priority, says current President
View(s):Anura Meddegoda PC who was appointed as the new president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) says his priority is to resurrect the image of BASL and ensure it remains an independent and an apolitical organisation.
“First we have to resurrect the image of the BASL. Our image has hit an all-time low. We had a very good image after the aragalaya as an independent, professional organisation which acted in the interests of the people, but that has come down in the eyes of the public. I will do what I can to resurrect that image,” he told the Sunday Times. 
Mr.Meddegoda was unanimously named the new BASL President last week to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former president Kaushalya Nawaratne, PC.
Mr. Nawaratne’s resignation followed a decision by the Bar Council, the apex body of BASL to call on him to resign after it was found that he failed to act with transparency in relation to the contract entered into by the BASL with JICA dated 11 December, 2023 and thus violated the trust reposed in him as the President.
Brazil Zarook PC was named the new vice president in place of Nalinda Indatissa, PC who also resigned from his post.
Mr. Meddegoda will serve for the unexpired term of office of his predecessor which will end in March next year.
The new BASL president said that no arbitrary decisions will be taken while he is at the helm and all decisions will be transparent.
Mr.Meddegoda also said he hopes to complete several tasks in the next six months while he is president and this includes celebrating the golden jubilee of the currently 20,000 strong BASL membership which falls toward the end of this year.
An event will be held to felicitate BASL members who have completed 50 years at the Bar as well as some who have completed 60 years, he said.
Plans are afoot to start several programmes to help the juniors, both professionally as well as for their welfare. This includes the conduct of some workshops and obtaining of foreign scholarships, he added.
He said the reestablishment of the rule of law and maintenance of the independence of judges are also areas to which the BASL will extend its support.
A former Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA), Mr. Meddegoda was appointed a President’s Counsel in 2017 and has over 40 years of experience in the legal profession. He served in the Attorney General’s Department as Senior State Counsel for nearly 20 years.
Thereafter, he joined The Hague’s United Nations International Criminal Tribunal’s Office of the Prosecutor as a Legal Adviser in 1994 and served for 10 years in that position.
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