SC rules in favour of setting guidelines for President Counsel appointments

• SC directs AG Department to gazette relevant guidelines
• Court directive comes after consideration of FR petition
• President has appointed 75 PCs since 2017 with no clarity on criteria followed

The Supreme Court yesterday directed the Attorney General’s Department to gazette guidelines for the appointment of President’s Counsels.

The Supreme Court’s directive comes after consideration of a Fundamental Rights application filed by Attorney-at-Law Upul Kumarapperuma, against the criteria that had been followed when appointing President’s Counsels.

The bench comprised Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya PC and Justices Gamini Amarasekera and S. Thurairajah PC.

The Petitioner, in his applications, said that no specific and transparent criteria or procedure has been followed in appointing PCs, and while President’s Secretary Udaya R. Seneviratne has informed the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President that only those who have completed 25 years in the Bar are eligible to apply for the selection of PCs, those who do not have the required number of service, too, have been appointed.

The Petitioner said that since 2017, the President has appointed a total of 75 President’s Counsels from the private Bar on three successive occasions and that despite the said appointments being made by the President in the year 2017, 2018 and 2019, no reasonable notice or intimation had been given to the members of the Bar as to when applications should be made for ‘silk’ status and or no specific criteria had been formulated which would enable a member of the Bar to assess for themselves whether they are qualified to become a ‘silk’ and then make an application to the relevant authorities seeking such position, other than the generic criteria as set out in Article 33(cc) of the Constitution.

The Petitioner invoked the jurisdiction vested with the Supreme Court under and in terms of Articles 17 and 126 of the Constitution to prevent an ‘imminent infringement of his fundamental rights’, through the prospective appointment of President’s Counsel by the President under and in terms of Article 33(2)(e) of the Constitution of the Republic.