Justice Dr. Shirani A. Bandaranayake, the Senior Supreme Court Judge, took oaths as the New Chief Justice of Sri Lanka before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees today.

New Chief Justice, the first woman to head Sri Lanka’s apex court was Associate Professor of Law and the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, before appointment to the bench of the Supreme Court in October 1996. She was then the first women to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and was also first Sri Lankan woman to obtain a PhD in Law from a foreign university – the University of London in 1986.

She heads Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court following the retirement of Chief Justice Asoka de Silva.

In addition to her long experience on the Supreme Court, Justice Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake is very learned in Law. A Bachelor of Laws of the University of Colombo, she was first in order of merit when graduating in 1980, and later awarded the Degree of Master of Philosophy from the University of Colombo in 1983, in the same year she enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

In 1986 she obtained the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of London, becoming the first woman in Sri Lanka to obtain a PhD in Law from a foreign university. Dr. Bandaranayake is a recipient of several scholarships and awards. She was awarded the Commonwealth Open Scholarship in 1983, the Chevening Scholarship in 1989, Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in 1996 and the British Council Assert Award in 1993 and 1994. Dr. Bandaranayake has written several articles and Monographs and has presented several papers in the field of Public Law.

Dr. Bandaranayake commenced her career as a visiting lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo in 1981 and after being Assistant Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, was appointed Head of the Department of Law in 1987. She served as the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law on many occasions before she was appointed Dean of the Faculty in 1992. Dr. Bandaranayake has also held the position of Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo on several occasions. She became an Associate Professor of Law in 1993.
Dr. Bandaranayake has served as a member of several Committees of the University of Colombo and other Universities and has also functioned as a member of the Human Rights Task Force, the Council of Legal Education and the Law Commission of Sri Lanka.
Justice Bandaranayake has served as the Acting Chief Justice on 11 occasions.