Act of Parliament · As enacted
Conferring the Honour of Senior Instructing Attorneys-at-Law Act 2023
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Conferring the Honour of
Senior Instructing Attorneys-at-Law Act, No. 26 of 2023.
His Exellency the President may, after obtaining observations from the Chief Justice and the Minister assigned the subject of Justice, and having regard to the guidelines made by the Minister assigned the subject of Justice under section 3, confer the honour of Senior Instructing Attorney-at-Law on any Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka who-
has been in active practice as an Instructing
Attorney for a period not less than twenty years as at the date of conferring such honour;
has reached eminence in the legal profession and has maintained high standards of conduct and professional rectitude;
has not been found guilty of any criminal offence under any written law;
has not been found guilty of any professional misconduct under the Supreme Court (Conduct of and Etiquette for Attorneys-at-Law) Rules 1988 and the provisions of the Judicature Act, No. 2 of 1978;
and
has been a person of good character and repute.
His Excellency the President shall, upon conferring the honour of Senior Instructing Attorney-at-Law to any
Instructing Attorney, hand over a certificate to that effect to such Instructing Attorney.
An Attorney-at-Law to whom a certificate has been handed over under subsection (2), may use the post-nominal title “SIA”.
The Minister assigned the subject of Justice shall, from time to time, make guidelines relating to the conferment of the honour of Senior Instructing Attorneys-at-Law for the purposes of this Act.
The guidelines made by the Minister under subsection (1) shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into operation on the date of such publication or on such later date as may be specified therein.
s 4Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
“Instructing Attorney” means an Attorney-at-Law whose main practice is to instruct a Counsel to appear in court on the instructions of such
Attorney-at-Law.
s 5Sinhala text to prevail in case of inconsistency
In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING