Dappula De Livera PC sworn in as new Attorney General

Dappula De Livera PC was sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena as the new Attorney General (AG), on Friday ( 10) at the Presidential Secretariat, following the Constitutional Council's approval of his appointment as the new AG, on May 7. He was the Solicitor General.

Mr De Livera is an Attorney-at-Law, with a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University College London, University of London, and a Diploma in International Relations from the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. Mr De Livera was appointed President’s Counsel (PC) on March 20, 2014.

Possessing nearly 34 years of experience as Legal Counsel of the Republic, Mr De Livera functioned as the Solicitor General from February 12, 2018. He functioned as Senior Prosecutor and Appellate Counsel for the Republic, as well as Head of the Criminal Division of the AG's Department. Mr De Livera also held positions such as Deputy Solicitor General, Additional Solicitor General, Senior Additional Solicitor General and Senior State Counsel, AG’s Department, Sri Lanka and State Counsel, AG’s Department, Republic of Seychelles.

He was also engaged in matters of security, where he functioned as a member of the National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Sri Lanka, and functioned as a Member of the Task Force established by the Ministry of

Justice to deal with human smuggling and illegal migration.

Mr De Livera was also the Legal Consultant to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as well as a member to its Advisory Board.

He was also the Senior Legal Counsel to a special Presidential Commission appointed to inquire into issues relating to the maintenance of law and order in the country. Mr De Livera functioned as the Chief Prosecutor of the Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate and inquire into and report on the issuance of treasury Bonds by the Central Bank.

Mr De Livera has attended many international conferences, seminars and workshops. These include a conference on drug prevention organised by the UNODC in Vienna, Austria, in 2017; the first South Asia Legal Forum held in Kunming, China in 2016; a seminar/ workshop on international humanitarian law in San Remo, Italy, in 2010; a symposium on the implementation of international humanitarian law in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1999; and he participated in the first annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Group on money laundering in Tokyo, Japan, in 1999.

Mr De Livera possesses expertise in many fields, listing financial crime, anti-terrorism, anti-money laundering, anti-human smuggling and trafficking, small arms control and gun laws, computer and cyber crime and human rights and humanitarian law, as notable fields among many others.