Leonard Woolf as a Judge in Ceylon

The Law and Society Trust will launch the second edition of the book "Leonard Woolf: A British Civil Servant as a Judge in the Hambantota District of Colonial Sri Lanka (1908-1911)" written by Prabhath de Silva, published by Neptune Publications (Pvt) Ltd. Under the leadership of its founder, Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, the Trust launched the first edition of this book 20 years ago, and now, two decades hence, to have the opportunity to launch an improved revised second edition.

Mr. de Silva who himself is a former district judge, served in many parts of the Island. He began his judicial career as Magistrate of Tissamaharama in the Hambantota District in 1992. In that year, he delved into the old records of cases Woolf had heard as a judge in Hambantota (1908-1911).

The writing of this book had been stimulated by the fascination Mr.de Silva derived from the reading of these old case records, Woolf's experiences as a judge recorded in his autobiography and official diaries, as well as the court scenes portrayed in his novel The Village in the Jungle.

In this second and revised edition, Mr.de Silva has also responded to recent works on Leonard Woolf and his famous novel The Village in the Jungle.