-By LeN Political and Legal Affairs Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -10.Aug.2025, 11.10 PM) The title of Presidential Counsel — a ceremonial honour under Article 33 of Sri Lanka’s Constitution — was conceived as a dignified continuation of the old Queen’s Counsel designation after the country became a republic. It was meant to recognise a lawyer’s exceptional skill, integrity, and service to the nation. Today, it is in danger of becoming little more than a political party favour.
Once bestowed sparingly upon the country’s finest legal minds, the PC designation has increasingly been handed to individuals whose only discernible qualification appears to be loyalty to a sitting president. In the eyes of many in the legal community, the status has been debased beyond recognition.
Take, for example, the case of Ali Sabry — a political ally of the Rajapaksas who rose from relative obscurity to be appointed both Justice Minister and a Presidential Counsel. Critics say Sabry’s legal career was undistinguished, and his performances on the international stage, including a much-criticised speech at Oxford, were hardly the hallmarks of a master advocate. He has even faced scrutiny abroad, with the US State Department reportedly looking into his role in a controversial citizenship revocation case involving Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The abuse is not confined to one man. Across the bar, the PC suffix now appears on letterheads, election posters, and business cards, serving less as a mark of legal excellence than as a marketing gimmick. Candidates flaunt the title in political campaigns; lawyers advertise it to lure clients; and some wield it like an aristocratic badge, cultivating an elite clique within the profession. The effect is corrosive: it fosters a hierarchy in what should be an egalitarian legal system.
When the title can be secured through political patronage rather than proven merit, the honour is hollow. The National People’s Power (NPP) government, which came to power on promises of reform and equality, should make this a priority. A lawyer’s ability is best measured in court, not in the President’s office.
If Sri Lanka truly wishes to uphold the principle that “all lawyers are equal before the law,” then the PC status should be retired entirely. Let skill, experience, and reputation be earned in the courtroom — not conferred over cocktails at Temple Trees.
For too long, the designation has been awarded to the politically connected, the pliable, and occasionally, the plainly unqualified. In such an environment, it is only a matter of time before the honour means nothing. As one senior barrister quipped, “If a donkey can be made a Presidential Counsel, why should the rest of us care?”
It is time to close the chapter. Scrap the title. End the pretence. And return the Sri Lankan bar to a meritocracy — where no politician’s pen can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
-By LeN Political and Legal Affairs Correspondent
---------------------------
by (2025-08-10 18:52:33)
Read 9948 Times
Leave a Reply
0 discussion on this news