The Secretary to President has issued an extraordinary gazette notification providing new guidelines for the appointment of President’s Counsel.
According to the new guidelines, appointment of President’s Counsel should be limited to a maximum of one batch per year. The number of President’s Counsel appointed per year should not exceed ten.
Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasunderaannounced these guidelines following the paaroval by the President in relation to the appointment of President’s Counsel in the exercise of the powers vested in him under article 33(e) of the Constitution.
The guidelines stated that no person shall be appointed as a President’s Counsel, unless he or she is an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
The person to be appointed as the President’s Counsel is required to reach eminence in the legal profession and maintained high standard of conduct and professional rectitude.
He or she has to mak a significant and an outstanding contribution as a subject specialist in law at senior level, either in the public sector or in an internationally recognized institution either in Sri Lanka or abroad and brought repute or honour to Sri Lanka. At all times been of good character and repute is another qualification for this position.
The persons who submit applications seeking an appointment as a President’s Counsel have to be registered with the Department of Inland Revenue as a tax payer for a minimum period of five years.
The applicant should have trained several juniors who are contributing to the profession in a meaningful manner, will be considered as added merits in the process of consideration to be appointed as President’s Counsel, in addition to authoring books or publications on law and the legal system.
No Attorney-at-Law shall be appointed as a President’s Counsel, unless he or she counts a minimum period of 20 years since being enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. However, in exceptional circumstances, any person who has completed 15 years since enrolling as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, may also be considered eligible to apply for the appointment as a President’s Counsel, provided all other requirements set out herein, are duly satisfied, gazette notification stated.
The President may after a verification process, seek views of the Chief Justice and the Attorney General, with regard to those who are proposed to be appointed as President’s Counsel, the notification further added.
On July 2019, Attorney-at-Law UpulKumarapperuma had filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order directing the authorities to formulate a criteria and procedure which should be followed during the appointment of President’s Counsel.
The petitioner had informed Supreme Court that the appointment process of President’s Counsel should be carried and based on consistent and discernible criteria.
He alleged that since the year 2017 up to July 2019, former President Maithreepala Sirisena had appointed 75 President’s Counsel from the private bar on three occasions.
