18 May 2011 04:49 am
Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake took oaths as the first female Chief Justice of Sri Lanka before President Mahinda Rajapaksa a short while ago.
Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo in 1980, and her PhD from the University of London in 1986. After admission to the bar, she worked as an Attorney at Law at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, and as a lecturer at the University of Colombo. She was later appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law, and also served on the Judicial Service Commission of Sri Lanka.
Dr. Bandaranayake was first appointed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1996, becoming the first female Supreme Court Judge in Sri Lanka. Through the next 14 years, she served as the acting Chief Justice during a number of occasions. Following the mandatory retirement of Justice Asoka de Silva in May 2011, Dr. Bandaranayake was sworn in as Chief Justice of Sri Lanka before President Mahinda Rajapaksa. (Source : Wikipedia)