Shirani Bandaranayake

The Honourable Justice Shirani Bandaranayake
43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
In office 28 January 2015 – 29 January 2015
Appointed by	Maithripala Sirisena
Preceded by	Mohan Peiris
Succeeded by	K. Sripavan
In office 18 May 2011 – 13 January 2013
Appointed by	Mahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded by	Asoka de Silva
Succeeded by	Mohan Peiris
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
In office 30 October 1996 – 18 May 2011
Appointed by	Chandrika Kumaratunga
Personal details
Born	Upatissa Atapattu Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake April 1958 (age 58) Kurunegala, North Western Province, Dominion of Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka)
Spouse(s)	Pradeep Kariyawasam
Children	Shaveen Bandaranayake Kariyawasam
Alma mater	Anuradhapura Central College University of Colombo School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Profession	Academic, Lawyer
Religion	Buddhist

Upatissa Atapattu Bandaranayake Wasala Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Shirani Anshumala Bandaranayake (known as Shirani Bandaranayake; born April 1958) served as the 43rdChief Justice of Sri Lanka. Although a qualified lawyer, she has never practiced law. After university Bandaranayake entered academia, holding a number of senior positions at the University of Colombo, including Associate Professor of Law and the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Colombo. She was first appointed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1996, becoming Sri Lanka's first female Supreme Court Judge. Bandaranayake was appointed chief justice in May 2011 following the mandatory retirement of Asoka de Silva. Bandaranayake was controversially impeached by Parliament and then removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013. and on 28 January 2015 the government of Sri Lanka, had removed all obstacles for Bandaranayake to hold her position as the 43rd Chief Justice by the President Maithripala Sirisena, on the ground that her 2013 impeachment was unlawful and as such the appointment of Mohan Peiris, her successor, was void Ab initio. This paved the way for Bandaranayake to resume duties on 28 January 2015. She retired from the position just after one day of her reappointment on 29 January 2015 claiming support for a free and fair Judiciary in Sri Lanka.

Bandaranayake was born in April 1958 in Kurunegala. She is the daughter of Flora and Wilson Bandaranayake. Her mother was an English trained teacher whereas her father was a Provincial Director of Education. Bandaranayake has a sister, Renuka, who is an engineering graduate from Moratuwa university now living in Perth, Australia. When Bandaranayake was young her father changed jobs on a number of occasions and as result she studied at a number of schools: Ginigathhena Maha Vidyalaya (1962–65), Hettimulla Bandaranayake Vidyalaya (1965), Tholangamuwa Vidyalaya (1965–70), Tholangamuwa Central College (1970–72). She then studied at Anuradhapura Central College where she passed her GCE Advanced Levels in 1976. She then entered the University of Colombo's Faculty of Law, graduating in December 1980 with an upper second Bachelor of Laws honours degree. She obtained a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Colombo in October 1983. In the same year she was awarded the Commonwealth Open Scholarship and the Chevening Scholarship in 1989. She qualified as an attorney at law in September 1983. In March 1986, she obtained a PhD from the law school at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, becoming the first woman in Sri Lanka to obtain this degree in Law from a foreign university. She was also awarded the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in 1996 and the British Council Assert Award in 1993 and 1994.

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