Senior Deputy Solicitor General Arjuna Obeyesekere and High Court Judge M. A. Samayawardhana were sworn in Judges of the Appeal Court by President Maithiripala Sirisena last week. Obeysekere joined the Attorney General’s Department in January 1993 as a State Counsel.
He is the son of the late R. I. Obeyesekere, PC and a fourth generation lawyer.
He has over 25 years of experience in the legal profession, having been extensively involved in litigation, negotiations, and drafting of legislation on complex commercial matters.
An old boy of S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, he holds an excellent academic record, both at graduate level and post-graduate level. He attended Cambridge University, where he obtained a Masters-in-Law (2nd Class Upper) with specialization in Commercial Law. He was initially attached to the Criminal Division of the AG’s Department where prosecuted in several High Courts across the country. Thereafter, he was attached to the Civil Division since August 1997.
He has appeared extensively as counsel in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Commercial High Court and the District Court and with experience and expertise in Constitutional Law, Public Law, Tax and Revenue Law, Elections Law, and Commercial Law with specialization in Banking, Company Law and Shipping.