Senaka Weeraratna

The Editor, Senaka Weeraratna is an Attorney at Law. He had his early
education at Royal Primary School and Royal College, Colombo.
He obtained his law degree (LL.B.) from the University of Colombo Law
Faculty from where he also emerged as a popular undergraduate student
leader in the early 1970s. He won a string of students’ union elections,
becoming initially the Secretary and in the succeeding year the President
of the Law Faculty Students’ Union, and subsequently he was elected by
his peers in the other Faculties as the Vice – President of the Colombo
University Students’ Council (1972).
Upon admission to the Supreme Court as an Attorney – at – Law,
Weeraratna proceeded to Australia for his post – graduate studies at Monash
University where he read for his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. He has the
distinction of authoring the first legal thesis on foreign investment in Sri
Lanka, which he presented as his minor dissertation for his LL.M. degree at Monash University. It has
since been published as a Book.
Weeraratna has further acquired a Diploma (Buddhist Studies) and Master of Arts (Buddhist
Studies) from the Post – Graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya. He
has been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor to the Supreme Courts of Victoria, and the Northern
Territory.
He has held a series of appointments in Australia, where he spent nearly 20 years working in such
capacities as Lecturer in law, Legal Officer (Australian Federal Special Prosecutor’s Office), and Solicitor
in a reputed Melbourne law firm.
On his return to Sri Lanka, Weeraratna served as an Honorary Legal Consultant on Animal Welfare
Legislation to the Law Commission of Sri Lanka (2000 – 2006). He played a pivotal role in steering
the drafting of the Animal Welfare Bill at the Law Commission. He has also served as Acting Director
(Research) at the Government Peace Secretariat and Consultant to the Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).
He was a key litigant in the Noise Pollution case which resulted in a landmark judgment of the
Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (2007) protecting the environment by imposing drastic restrictions on use
of sound amplifiers in the public arena.
One of Senaka Weeraratna’s most outstanding contributions has been in influencing radical change
in the basic laws of cricket adjudication through a series of publications in some of world’s leading
newspapers and international cricket journals, calling for use of the Player Referral concept which he
conceived and publicized worldwide finally leading to his innovation becoming accepted and used as
the lynchpin of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in international cricket.
He is the Hony. Secretary and Trustee of the German Dharmaduta Society and Chapter Leader of
the Dharma Voices for Animals, Colombo, Sri Lanka Chapter.
He is a regular contributor to newspapers and journals on a variety of topics including Global
Buddhism, Animal Rights and Colonialism.
ABOUT THE EDITOR