Chief Justice of Sri Lanka - List of Chief Justices

List of Chief Justices

  • § Served as provisional
  • ¤ Chief Justice and President of the Council
  • ° Impeachment charges brought against
  • ♦ Elevated from Associate Justice
  • † Died in office

Data based on:

  • Ceylon in the Jubilee Year, John Ferguson, 1996, Asian Educational Services
  • Chief Justices, 2009, Judicial Service Commission Secretariat
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Name Province Term Elevated by
Chief Justice of Ceylon (1801-1972)
1 Sir Edmund Codrington Carrington 1801 - March 1806
The Honourable Alexander Johnston § 3 April 1806 - 5 April 1807
The Right Honourable Henry Edward Lushington § 1807 - 1809
W. Coke § 1809 - 1811
2 Sir Alexander Johnston ¤ 6 November 1811 - 1820
3 Sir Ambrose Hardinge Giffard 1820 - 1827
4 Sir Richard Ottley 1827 - 1833
5 Sir Charles Marshall 1833 - 1836
6 Sir William Norris April 1836 - 1837
7 Sergeant Sir W. Rough April 1837 - 1838
8 Sir Anthony Oliphant 1838 - 1854
9 Sir William Ogle Carr 1854 - 1856
10 Sir William Carpenter Rowe 1856 - 1859
The Honourable P. I. Sterling 1859 - 1860
11 Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy 1860 - 1875
Sir Richard Morgan 1875
The Honourable C. H. Stewart 1875 - 1876
Sir George Anderson 1876 - 1877
12 Sir William Hackett 1877
13 Sir John Budd Phear 1877 - 1879
14 Sir Richard Cayley 1879 – 1882
The Honourable L. B. Clarence 1882
The Honourable J. P. de Wet and Sir George Anderson 1882 - 1883
15 Sir Bruce Burnside 1883 - 1885
16 Sir F. Fleming 1885
17 Sir John Winfield Bonser 1893 - 1902
18 Sir Charles Peter Layard 1902 – 1906
Sir Alfred George Lascelles 1906
19 Sir Joseph Turner Hutchinson 1906 - 1911
20 Sir Alfred George Lascelles 1911 - 1914
21 Sir Alexander Wood Renton 1914 - 1918
22 Sir Anton Bertram 1918 - 1925
William Thomas Porter 1921
23 Sir Charles Ernest St. John Branch 1925 - 1926
24 Sir Stanley Fisher 1926 - 1931
25 Sir Philip James Macdonell 1931 - 1936
26 Sir Sidney Abrahams 1936 – December 1939
27 Sir John Curtois Howard 1939 - 1949
Sir Francis Soertsz (on several occasions)
28 Sir Arthur Wijewardena January 1949 - 1950
29 Sir Edward Jayetileke 1950 - 1952
30 Sir Alan Rose 1952 - 1956
Chellappah Nagalingam Northern Province 1954
31 Eugene Jayewardene ♦ Western Province
32 Hema Henry Basnayake 1956 - 1964
33 Miliani Sansoni 1964 - 1966
34 Hugh Norman Gregory Fernando 1966 - 1973
Chief Justice of Sri Lanka (1972-present)
Gardiye Punchihewage Amaraseela Silva 1973 - 1974 Gopallawa
35 Victor Tennekoon Central Province 1974
36 Neville Samarakoon ° 1977 – 1984 Jayewardene
37 Suppiah Sharvananda Northern Province 1984 – 1988
38 Parinda Ranasinghe 1988 - 1991
39 Herbert Thambiah Northern Province 1991 Premadasa
40 G. P. S. de Silva 1991 - 1999
41 Sarath N. Silva 16 September 1999 - 7 June 2009 Kumaratunga
42 Asoka de Silva ♦ 8 June 2009 - 17 May 2011 Rajapaksa
43 Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake ° North Western Province 18 May 2011 – 13 January 2013
44 Mohan Peiris 15 January 2013 - Present

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