Mrs. Dhara Wijayatilake, Attorney-at-Law, (LL.B Ceylon) - Chairperson

(Re-Appointed with effect from June 12, 2022)

A Lawyer who served in the Public Service of Sri Lanka for over forty years, Mrs. Wijayatilake holds the distinction of being the first woman to be appointed as a Secretary to a Cabinet Ministry with her appointment as Secretary to the Ministry of Justice (1994). She also served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation and the Ministry of Technology and Research. She has served as a Member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka and as a Member of the National Commission on Women. Upon retiring from Public Service, Mrs. Wijayatilake functioned as the CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (2016-Jan 2020). Mrs. Wijayatilake served as a Member of the Public Service Commission (2015-Apr. 2019) and resigned to assume the post of Chairperson of the Office for Reparations. She also served as a Non-Executive Director and later Deputy Chairperson of Sampath Bank PLC.

As Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Wijayatilake provided leadership to the law reform initiatives that resulted in far reaching amendments being introduced (in 1995) for the protection of women and children. She was also responsible for the preparation of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act which was enacted in 2005. She has served as a member of several delegations to defend Sri Lanka’s reports to UN CEDAW. Mrs. Wijayatilake served on the Steering Committee to draft the Human Rights Action Plan for Sri Lanka- 2009/2010 and was the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee appointed to monitor the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC).

Maj. General (retd.) Palitha Fernando - Member

(Appointed with effect from May 24, 2021)

A former military officer who commenced his career in the Sri Lanka Army in 1971 as an Officer Cadet who was commissioned in the Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as a Second Lieutenant. Major General Fernando is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, Pakistan. During his military service he held various command, staff and logistics appointments. In 2005 he was promoted to the rank of Major General and was appointed as the Military Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Defence which position he held till his retirement in 2015.

Major General Fernando currently serves as the Secretary to the State Ministry of Wild Life and Forest Conservation. He has always maintained a keen interest in promoting sports in Sri Lanka having been a keen sportsman himself. He remains engaged in sports administration in the country and is currently the President of Sri Lanka Athletics.

Dr. A. M. Mubarak, BSc (SL), PhD (Cantab), FICHEMC, FNASSL - Member

(Appointed with effect from July 6, 2022)

Dr. A.M. Mubarak, a Commonwealth Scholar, has a BSc degree from the University of Colombo and a PhD from the University of Cambridge U.K. Dr. Mubarak, a former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Industrial Technology Institute, has several years of experience in managing industrial R&D. Presently, he holds the post of Chief of Research and Innovation at the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (Pvt) Ltd.

Dr. Mubarak has served as Chairman of National Science Foundation and on the Boards/Councils of the Rehabilitation of Persons, Properties and Industries Authority (REPPIA), Sri Lanka Accreditation Board, National Engineering Research & Development Centre, National Science and Technology Commission, University of Colombo and Postgraduate Institute of Science, Peradeniya. He has held the posts of President, Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon, General President, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science and President, National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka. He is currently a Member of the Council of University of Sri Jayewardenapura and Sri Lanka Standards Institute.

Dr. Mubarak is the present Chairman of Union Chemicals Lanka PLC and also serves on the Boards of E.B. Creasy & Company PLC and Lankem Ceylon PLC.

Mr. D. R. R. L. Dissanayake - Member.

(Appointed with effect from July 6, 2022)

Mr. Rasika Dissnayaka is an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He commenced his professional career as a junior counsel in 1999 and established his own Law Chambers in 2005 providing opportunities for internships for several junior counsel and apprentices. His areas of practice include constitutional and administrative law as well as civil and company law.

He was elected to the post of Treasurer of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for the period of 2012/2013. Mr. Dissanayaka currently serves on several Law Reform Advisory Committtees appointed by the Minister of Justice including the Committee to Review the Rent Law, Civil Law Reforms Sub Committee, the Committee to review the Pre-Trial Procedure and Small Claims Court and also as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee to Review the Debt Conciliation Ordinance.

Mr. Dissanayake has also served as a Member of the Legal Aid Commission (2015-2017), and the Board of Management of the Commercial Mediation Centre of Sri Lanka (2016-2017) . He has also served as a Directors of the National Wealth Corporation Limited, a wholly owned company of the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund (2018-2019 ) and the State Mortgage and Investment Bank (2006-2007).

Mrs. Shanmugapriya Sivagananathan - Member

Mrs. Priya Sivagananathan is an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. She is a law graduate of the London School of Economics & Political Science, Barrister-at-law and a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. She is a Partner at Julius & Creasy , Attorneys-at-Law & Notaries Public, since 2008. She specialises in the areas of Banking & Finance and Aircraft Leasing.

She is a member of the Advisory Board of Emerge Lanka Foundation- a non profitable organization assisting teenage victims of childhood sexual abuse and is actively involved in their campaigns for the protection of children.