Mohan Peiris - Sri Lanka’s new Attorney General

by Sarath MALALASEKERA

Former Senior State Counsel, Mohan Pieris PC assumed duties as the new Attorney General last week as the 25th Attorney General of Sri Lanka.

The British qualified new Attorney General is an old boy of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo and Royal College, Colombo. He was called to the Bar in June 1975 and practised in the chambers of Senior Attorney-at-Law D. R. P. Gunatilleke and Daya Perera PC. Mohan to his near and dear had a lucrative practice in the original and appellate courts in the areas of inter alia, administrative law, commercial law, land law, fundamental rights, industrial law, injunctions and criminal law and as an arbitrator. He is a diploma holder in Trial Advocacy Skills conferred by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy its Teacher Training Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvvard Law at School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988 and represented Sri Lanka at the 10th International Symposium on Economic Crime conducted by the Centre for Police and Criminal Justice Studies, University of Exeter at Jesus College, Cambridge in 1992.

He also participated in a Technical Co-operation Programme on New Approaches to Foreign Investment Analysis and negotiations conducted by the Agency for International Development of the United States of America in co-operation with the George Washington University in 1992.Mohan Pieris had the distinction of participating as a senior delegate at the 50th Anniversary of the Warsaw Convention at the International Civil Aviation Organisation on Mentorial, Canada in 1992.

His illustrious career saw Mohan, as he is fondly referred to by his colleagues hold the posts of Chairman of the Board of Examiners for the Intermediate Examination of the Sri Lanka Law College, Examiner in the subject of contracts at the Sri Lanka Law College, visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, Deputy President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL), member of the Sri Lanka Delegation to the Universal Periodic review at the 8th Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

The new Attorney General’s, contribution as a delegate at the UN Assembly in Geneva was in fact hailed as contributing in no small measure in sustaining the country’s image on matters concerning human rights amongst the international community.

His additional role as Legal Consultant to the Ministry of Defence and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has given him in depth experience into important matters of the State in the respective fields and given him invaluable experience in dealing with such matters and in maintaining the highest levels of probity. It has been said of him that he is a great believer of the concept of administrative fairness.In sports, Mohan had been a member of the Royal College, Colombo first eleven cricket team and represented St. Joseph’s College, Colombo at the Zonal Tournament conducted by the Ceylon Schools Cricket Association.

He was also a colourman at school in cricket, Sri Lanka Law College and Captained the Sri Lanka law College basketball team.

A gold medal winner of the Senior English Oratorical Contest at St. Joseph’s College and Silver Medallist for Junior Sinhala Oratorical Contest at St. Joseph’s College were some of his achievements as a schoolboy. Mohan’s wife Dayangani Priyantha Pieris is an Attorney-at-Law and a British qualified Solicitor.