S. Sriskandarajah

Justice Sundaram Sriskandarajah (Tamil: சுந்தரம் சிறீஸ்கந்தராஜா, c. 1953 – 23 January 2014) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge.

Justice

S. Sriskandarajah

PC
சுந்தரம் சிறீஸ்கந்தராஜா
Judge, Supreme Court of Fiji
In office
24 April 2012 – 23 January 2014
Appointed byEpeli Nailatikau
President of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka
In office
24 June 2011 – 23 January 2014
Appointed byMahinda Rajapaksa
Judge of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka
In office
30 June 2004 – 23 January 2014
Appointed byChandrika Kumaratunga
Personal details
Died(2014-01-23)23 January 2014 (aged 60)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alma materManipay Hindu College
Colombo Hindu College
University of the West Indies
ProfessionLawyer
EthnicitySri Lankan Tamil

Early life

Sriskandarajah was educated at Manipay Hindu College and Colombo Hindu College.[1][2] He received a Master of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies, Barbados.[3][4]

Career

Sriskandarajah became an attorney at law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on 9 September 1979.[1][5] He joined the Attorney-General's Department in 1981 as a State Counsel.[5] He was promoted to the Senior State Counsel rank in 1995.[5][6]

Sriskandarajah joined the judiciary in 1998 as the high court judge in Vavuniya.[6] He also served as a high court judge in the Western Province.[1] He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in June 2004.[5] He became the court's president in June 2011.[1][7] He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji in April 2012.[8] In January 2013 Sriskandarajah headed the Court of Appeal sitting which quashed the Parliamentary Select Committee's findings in respect of the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.[9] Sriskandarajah and a fellow Court of Appeal judge Anil Goonarathne subsequently received death threats.[10][11] In April 2013 President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Rohini Marasinghe, who was the third most senior judge on the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court, ignoring Sriskandarajah who, as President of the Court of Appeal, should have been appointed according to tradition.[12][13][14]

Sriskandarajah fell ill in September 2013 after returning to Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth Judges’ Conference in the UK.[6] He died on 23 January 2014 aged 60 at a private hospital in Colombo.[15][16] His funeral took place on 26 January 2014 at the General Cemetery, Borella.[17]

References
  1. "President Court of Appeal passes away". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 27 January 2014.
  2. "Justice Sriskandarajah passes away". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 23 January 2014.
  3. "Fiji appoints Lankan Judge to SC". Daily FT. 28 April 2012.
  4. "Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka". Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka.
  5. "President appoints new Court of Appeal Judge". The Island (Sri Lanka). 2 July 2004.
  6. "Court of Appeal President dead". The Island (Sri Lanka). 24 January 2014.
  7. "Justice Sriskandarajah, new CA Chief". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 26 June 2011.
  8. "Judge sworn in". Fiji Sun. 25 April 2012.
  9. Weeraratne, Chitra (8 January 2013). "Appeal Court quashes PSC findings on CJ". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  10. Hafeel Farisz; Dasun Rajapakshe (8 January 2013). "Appeal Court judges get threatening calls". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  11. Samarasinghe, Stanley (9 January 2013). "Judges threatened". Ceylon Today. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013.
  12. "Promotion for Appeal Court Judge: BASL voices concern". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 28 April 2013.
  13. Selvanayagam, S. S. (16 May 2013). "Three judges absent". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  14. "TNA MP falls at President's feet!". Ceylon Today. 28 May 2013.
  15. "An able, honest and fearless judge: BASL". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 26 January 2014.
  16. Dalima, Bella (23 January 2014). "Justice Sriskandarajah passes away". News First.
  17. "Justice Sriskandarajah's funeral". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 26 January 2014.


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