Veteran lawyer Desmond Fernando dies

Prominent Sri Lankan lawyer and President’s Counsel Desmond Fernando passed away this evening at a private hospital in Colombo. He was a former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). Funeral arrangements are to be notified later.

Mr. Fernando who was an active member of the Civil Rights Movement became the first secretary of the BASL in 1974 and was twice President of the Association. He was the only Sri Lankan and second Asian to hold the prestigious post of the President of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Desmond Fernando had associated and worked with seniors like Sam Kadirgamar QC, C. Renganathan QC and R.A. Kannangara and his lawyer friends Justice P. Ramanathan and Suren Peiris.