Supreme Court Judge of the Supreme Court

Judge of the Supreme Court
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

1. 1


YASANTHA KODAGODA , P.C.

Judge of the Supreme Court
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka


PROFILE

2. 2
• Male, Citizen of Sri Lanka.
• Born in January, 1965, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Primary and Secondary Education
• 1970: Isipathana Vidyalaya, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• 1971 – 1983: Ananda College, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• Extra-curricular activities during school career:
o Scout – Green Cord (1978)
o Junior Prefect (1976 – 1979)
o Deputy Junior Head Prefect (1978 - 1979)
o Member, Ananda College Junior English Debating Team
o Member, Ananda College Music Circle (1977 – 1982)
o Prefect (1980 – 81)
o Senior Prefect (1981)
o Senior Prefect Supervisor (1982 - 1983)
o Editor, Ananda – Nalanda Cricket Souvenir (1980)
o President, Buddhist Association (1982)
o Sinhala & English News Announcer (1978 – 1982)
o Chief Announcer, Announcers’ Unit (1982)


Tertiary Education

3. 3
• 1985 – 1987: Primary legal education at the Sri Lanka Law College.
• 2002 – 2003: Postgraduate legal education at the University College London (UCL), United Kingdom.

Academic and Professional Qualifications
• 28
th
October 1988: Having successfully completed the three Attorneys examinations, was called to the
Bar as an Attorney-at Law of the Supreme Court.
• 1998: Postgraduate Diploma in Forensic Medicine and Sciences from the University of Colombo.
• 2003: Masters’ Degree (LL.M.) in Public International Law (with Merit) from the University College
London (UCL), United Kingdom.


Employment and Professional Career
• 1
st
February 1989: Joined the Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka as a State Counsel.
• 1989 onwards: Served as a Public Prosecutor and prosecuted before High Courts and Magistrates
Courts.
• 1998 – 2002: Head, Missing Persons Commissions Unit, Attorney General’s Department.
• 1999: Promoted as Senior State Counsel.
• Since 1999: Handled criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and special
prosecutions in the High Court and the Magistrates Court.
• Since 2004: Functioned as a Supervising Officer of the Child Abuse Perpetrator’s Prosecution Unit,
Attorney General’s Department.
• 2005: Promoted as Deputy Solicitor General.

4. 4
• 2012 – 2014: Officer-in-Charge of Criminal Prosecutions in the North Central Province (2012 – 2014)
• 2015: Promoted as Additional Solicitor General.
• 2015 onwards: Functioned as the Officer-in-Charge of the Attorney General’s Department for the
Central Province.
• 18
th
March 2015: Was appointed a President’s Counsel
• 2017: Functioned as the officer supervising institution of criminal proceedings based on investigations
conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department
• 2018 April – March 2019: Functioned as the second-in-command of the Criminal Division of the
Attorney General’s Department


• 28
th
March 2019: Following a nomination by His Excellency the President and unanimous approval of
that nomination by the Constitutional Council, was appointed the President of the Court of Appeal of
the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
• 28
th
March 2019 to January 2020: Headed the judiciary of the Court of Appeal. Was in-charge of the
management and the administration of the Court of Appeal. President in Division No. 303 of the Court
of Appeal, which routinely hears all fresh Writ Applications.
• 3
rd
February 2020: Following a nomination made by His Excellency the President and unanimously
approved by the Constitutional Council was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
• Since 28
th
February 2020: Serving as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

5. 5

Additional and significant professional assignments and activities
• 1991 – 1992: Served as the Legal Advisor to the Police Narcotics Bureau in the conduct of the first ever
‘controlled delivery’ investigation between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
• 1992 – 1993: Served as the Legal Advisor to the Criminal Investigation Department and the Department
of the Controller of Exchange in the first ever investigation into an unauthorized and fraudulent forex
margin trading activity.
• 1998-2000: Functioned as the Representative of the Attorney General and the Coordinator of the first
ever multi-disciplinary criminal and forensic investigation into the alleged existence of mass-graves in
Chemmani, Jaffna.
• Since 1999: Has functioned as a member of the Government of Sri Lanka delegation to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Council.
• 1995 – 1996: Functioned as the Attorney General’s Counsel in the Commission of Inquiry into the
assassination of politicians and popular actor Vijaya Kumaratunge.
• 1996 – 1998: Functioned as the Attorney General’s Counsel in the Commission of Inquiry into the
maintenance of the Batalanda Torture Chambers.
• 1998 – 2001: Served as the Legal Advisor to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the
Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL).
• 2001 – 2002: Served as Accredited Representative of the Government of Sri Lanka to the UN Committee
Against Torture.
• 2005: Represented Sri Lanka before the UN Security Council’s Working Group on Children in Armed
Conflict.

6. 6
• 2006 – 2009: Functioned as the Attorney General’s Counsel in the Commission of Inquiry to investigate
and inquire into serious violations of Human Rights (Udalagama Commission).
• 2005 – 2010: In addition to serving at the Attorney General’s Department, functioned as the Director of
the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (Sri Lanka) of the Incorporated Council of Legal Education
(postgraduate wing of the Sri Lanka Law College).
• 2006 – 2015: Served as the primary counsel of the State who developed the policy framework and the
draft legislation relating to the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act, No. 4 of
2015.
• 2008: Member of the Delegation of the Government of Sri Lanka to the Universal Periodic Review of
the UNHRC.
• 2007 – 2009: Functioned as Counsel cum Investigator representing the Government of Sri Lanka in the
anti-terrorism investigation code-named Operation Halophyte conducted by the Anti-Terrorism
Taskforce of the Commonwealth of Australia.
• 2008: Functioned as Counsel representing the Government of Sri Lanka in the anti-terrorism
investigation code-named Operation Osmium conducted by the Metropolitan Police, United Kingdom.
• 2008 – 2009: Served as the Chairman of the ICCPR Drafting Committee of the National Action Plan on
Human Rights.
• 1995 to 2019: Visiting Lecturer at the Sri Lanka Law College, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies,
Police Higher Training Institute, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Narcotics Bureau,
Bandaranayake Centre for International Studies, Universities of Colombo, Sri Jayawardenapura and
Kelaniya, Kothalawala Defence University and Postgraduate Institute of Medicine & Commission to
Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

7. 7
• 2004 – 2006: Served as the Joint Secretary of the Medico-Legal Society of Sri Lanka.
• Member of the Bar Council of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.
• 2012 – 2014: Focal point at the Attorney General’s Department for the UNICEF funded National Project
for the expeditious processing and passage of cases of child abuse through the criminal justice system and for the
prevention of secondary victimization of victims of child abuse.
• April 2015 onwards: Secretary & Chief Executive Officer, Presidential Taskforce for the Recovery of
stolen State Assets and Proceeds of Crime (START – Sri Lanka)
• 2015 – 2018: Member, Committee appointed by the Minister of Justice to reform the law relating to the
conduct of Inquests into Deaths.
• 2016 – 2017: Member, Prime Minister’s Committee on drafting the policy and legal framework of the
proposed Counter Terrorism Act.
• 2016 to 2019: Member, Board of Management, National Authority for the Protection of Victims of
Crime and Witnesses
• 2016 onwards: Member, Criminal Law & Procedure Review Committee appointed by the Minister of
Justice
• 2016 – 2017: Expert, National Security, Law & Order and Police Committee of the Constitutional
Assembly, Sri Lanka Parliament.
• August 2016 onwards: Member, Committee on the Eradication of Torture from Police practices
• 2017 - Counsel Assisting Presidential Commission of Inquiry into issuances of Treasury Bonds.
• 2017 – 2018: Chaired a Committee that developed the policy and legal framework relating to a
comprehensive Proceeds of Crime Act.
• 2018 - 2019: Legal Advisor, Financial Intelligence Unit, Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

8. 8
• Serving as a regular resource person of the Judges Training Institute of Sri Lanka.
• Has presented Papers at many international and domestic Conferences and Seminars and published
Articles in Law Journals on the following themes:
o Criminal Justice Response to Child Abuse
o Legal framework relating to prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of Money
Laundering
o Prevention of secondary victimization of child victims of abuse when passing through the
several phases of the criminal justice system
o Conduct of criminal prosecutions into cases of Child Abuse
o Rights and Entitlements of Victims of Crime and Witnesses
o Mechanisms for protection of victims of crime and witnesses
o Law and practice relating to bail
o Duties, powers and functions of the Attorney General
o Evolution of the law, current practices and need for law reform in the conduct of Inquests into
Deaths
o Corporate Criminality
o Efficacious criminal justice response to bribery and corruption
o Dispute resolution methodologies: Negotiation, Facilitated Negotiation, Mediation, Conciliation,
Arbitration, Contractual Adjudication, and Judicial Adjudication
o Victim-Offender Mediation
o Trial advocacy
o Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses

9. 9
o National Security Laws of Sri Lanka
o Exercise of prosecutorial discretion
o Evolution of the law relating to conduct of Inquests into Deaths
o Conduct of criminal investigations into alleged instances of homicides
o Enhancing the efficacy of the Criminal Justice System of Sri Lanka

• President, Medico-Legal Society of Sri Lanka (2021/22)


Professional Expertise
• Conduct of special criminal prosecutions into serious and complex crimes.
• Advising the police on the conduct of criminal investigations into complex crimes.
• Appearing for the State in Criminal Appeals argued in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
• Appearing for the State in Fundamental Rights Applications.
• Management of teams of State Counsel.
• Supervision of the professional work of Deputy Solicitors General, Senior State Counsel and State
Counsel.
• Development of policy frameworks for criminal justice laws.
• Handling multi-jurisdictional investigations into complex crimes.
• Conduct of research into criminal justice processes.
• Multi-sectoral management of criminal and forensic investigations into complex crimes
• Lecturing in certain areas of the Law.

10. 10
• Training junior State Counsel and Attorneys.
• Training junior judicial officers.
• Representing the State before international organizations.
• Management and administration of an apex court.
• Providing leadership to a group of Judges of an apex court.

Contact details:
Office:
Chamber of Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, PC
Superior Courts Complex,
Hulftsdorp,
Colombo 12.

Residence:
No. 410/113A, Bauddhaloka Mawatha,
Colombo 7.

Preferred mode of contact:
Mobile: [phone]
E.mail: [email protected]