Saleem Marsoof | University of Colombo (original) (raw)

Papers by Saleem Marsoof

Colombo Law Journal, 2016

I take pleasure in sharing my Introduction to the inaugural issue of the Colombo Law Journal publ... more I take pleasure in sharing my Introduction to the inaugural issue of the Colombo Law Journal published by the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo on 22nd July 2016 consisting mainly of the products of legal research of the teachers, students and alumni of the Faculty of Law. In this introduction, I have attempted to traverse the history of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, which had its origins in the Department of Law, which was set up in July 1947 under the Faculty of Arts of the then University of Ceylon established under the Ceylon University Ordinance of 1942. The Department of Law was shifted to Peradeniya in 1950, where the first law degrees were awarded, but was brought back to Colombo in 1965. It continued to be a Department under the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ceylon, Colombo, till 1967 when it was upgraded as the Faculty of Law of the same University. The University of Ceylon, Colombo, was given greater autonomy and independence when it was reconstituted as the University of Colombo in 1968 under the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978. Through my own personal experience, I have attempted to capture the variety and excellence of student life in the Law Faculty and its significance to legal education in general. I have also dealt with the importance of legal education in relation to various career paths available to a student graduating from the Faculty of Law. In this introduction, I have focused on the question of how to enhance levels of academic excellence and professional expertise to meet global challenges, and paid tribute, in my own way, to the Law Faculty, which has produced very distinguished alumni. I have left to the reader to enjoy and benefit from the contents of the Colombo Law Journal, except for commenting on the very first article that appears in the inaugural issue of the Journal co-authored by a distinguished member of the teaching staff of the Faculty and an outstanding student of the Faculty of Law.

Sri Lanka, which is a unitary republic situated to the south of the Indian Peninsular, by reason ... more Sri Lanka, which is a unitary republic situated to the south of the Indian Peninsular, by reason of its shape, size, location and character, has been long described as the “pearl of the Indian Ocean”. Though small in size, Sri Lanka is a treasure house for comparative law by reason of its unique cultural and legal heritage, where three personal law systems consisting of Kandyan law, which had its origins in the Sinhalese laws applied by ancient Sinhalese kings, the Sawalamai, which is a Dravidian customary law literally meaning the customs of the land, and the Muslim law brought in by the Arab traders traversing the ancient silk route, apply respectively to the upcountry Sinhalese, the Jaffna Tamils and Muslims living in Sri Lanka, while the low country Sinhalese are governed by the Sri Lankan common law which functions as the residuary law.

Journal of Financial Crime , 1999

A paper I presented at the Cambridge International Symposium of Economic Crime in September 1998 ... more A paper I presented at the Cambridge International Symposium of Economic Crime in September 1998 was published in the January 1999 issue of the Journal of Financial Crime Vol Six Number Three pages 287 to 290 under the title “Sri Lanka: Prosecutions of Bribery and Corruption”. Since this publication has been cited in later publications, many inquiries have been made by those interested on how to obtain a copy of this paper as published. Recently I managed to get a copy of the paper scanned and am happy to add it to my somewhat old collection of publications.
After a brief introductory section, the paper deals with the offense of bribery, and moves on to corruption and assets cases.

Pursuing a Vision of Justice Ed. Senaka Weeraratna, 2022

My essay titled "Perceptions of an Alumnus of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ceylon" is ... more My essay titled "Perceptions of an Alumnus of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ceylon" is Chapter 9 of the volume of essays edited by Senaka Weeraratna, in the book published in May 2022 in honour of his Law Faculty batch mate Maithri Panagoda entitled "Pursuing a Vision of Justice". Maithri currently practices law in Australia and among other things is well known for his service to Australian Aborigines.

Website of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law (AAFL) of the University of Colombo, 2022

This is a very short essay on my life as a law student in the Faculty of Law of the University of... more This is a very short essay on my life as a law student in the Faculty of Law of the University of Ceylon, Colombo, now known as the University of Colombo. It deals very briefly with the history of the Faculty of Law and its origins in the Department of Law in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Peradeniya, of which the first Vice Chancellor happened to be Sir Ivor Jennings, and goes on to describe student life in the Faculty of Law in the late sixties and early seventies. This essay was written specially for the website of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law (AAFL) of the University of Colombo

Journal of Financial Crime, 2003

Reviews Sri Lanka’s long past encounters with terrorism, including the suicide bombing of 1996 wh... more Reviews Sri Lanka’s long past encounters with terrorism, including the suicide bombing of 1996 which killed thousands and left the economy in a shambles. Outlines the Sri Lankan Code of Criminal Procedure, concluding that it falls far short of UK law in preventing terrorist financiers enjoy the profits of their crimes. Moves on to civil enforcement; Sri Lankan Common Law

Colombo Law Review: Symposium 2020 Special Edition, 2020

This is the full text of the keynote speech made by Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC at the Annual Rese... more This is the full text of the keynote speech made by Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC at the Annual Research Symposium of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo held on 19th December 2020 on a virtual Zoom platform at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. In his keynote address delivered under the title “The Constitution and the Law at Crossroads: Reflections and Foresights of a Judge”, Justice Marsoof reflects on the seventy odd years of Sri Lanka’s post- independence history in the context of its Ethnic and Constitutional crises, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Sri Lanka’s social fabric and the Constitutional issues that it gave rise to. Placing emphasis on the concept of ‘the Sovereignty of the People’ which is well ingrained in the current Constitution of Sri Lanka, he stressed the need for a broad consultative process for the enactment of a new Constitution for Sri Lanka that fully reflects the aspirations of the People of Sri Lanka. Justice Marsoof also touched on the very important issue of whether the Courts of Sri Lanka may progressively develop the Common Law of Sri Lanka, which as noted by Lord Diplock in his celebrated judgment in Kodeeswaran v Attorney General (1967) 72 NLR 337 (PC) has been built on a Roman-Dutch law foundation, and has suggested ways in which certain doubts created by the later decision of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in Priyani Zoysa v Rianzie Arsekularatne (2001) 2 SLR 293 in this regard may be resolved by including appropriately worded provisions in the proposed new Constitution.

Plenary address at CICASH 2021, 2021

This is the text of the Plenary Address made by Justice Dr. Saleem Marsoof, President's Counsel, ... more This is the text of the Plenary Address made by Justice Dr. Saleem Marsoof, President's Counsel, on 3rd December 2021 at the International Conference on Advancement in Sciences and Humanities organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) on the theme “Research for the Betterment of Humanity”. In the address, Justice Marsoof focused on positives and negatives of the rapid development of science and technology and in particular, the innovation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the context of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary legal research. He also paid attention to certain ethical and moral responsibilities vested on mankind to harness the benefits of these developments and research for the betterment of mankind. In the course of his address, Justice Marsoof also discussed the impact of modern scientific and technological developments on law and the legal profession.

This is a proof copy of an article published in the Journal of Financial Crime Vol. 10 No. 4 deal... more This is a proof copy of an article published in the Journal of Financial Crime Vol. 10 No. 4 dealing with the question of how to make crime unprofitable by blocking the process of converting the profits of crime to what looks like legitiate funds. The article was written four years prior to the enactment by the Parliament of Sri Lanka of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 5 of 2006, but the article makes provision to the bill that was at that time before the Legal Draftsman. The focus of the article was on the criminal and civil measures then in place in Sri Lanka to deal with money launderisng, and some of the points made can be useful even after the enactment of the 2006 Act

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

The Muslim and Christian minority communities in Sri Lanka, as a matter of religious ruling and p... more The Muslim and Christian minority communities in Sri Lanka, as a matter of religious ruling and practice, bury their dead. Having initially permitted cremation or burial, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health issued fresh Regulations purportedly under section 2 and 3 of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No: 3 of 1987 making it mandatory to cremate bodies of COVID-19 victims irrespective of their faith. This caused great anguish and distress to Sri Lankan Muslims whose scientific and legal fraternity prepared a comprehensive memorandum containing their response to the environmental and public health concerns with regard to burial of COVID–19 victims. On the basis of scientific studies, WHO guidelines and practices of other nations responding to COVID-19, the memorandum argues that the burial of COVID–19 victims does not pose any serious environmental and/or public health risks. The memorandum was submitted to the to the relevant Health and other authorities on April 13, 2020 to enable the said authorities to reexamine the issue and make an appropriate recommendation or in the alternative to instruct the Minister of Health to amend the Regulations currently in force in line with the WHO Guidance to permit to all the option of burial of bodies of COVID-19 victims.

International Review of the Red Cross, Mar 31, 2003

Contemporary political analyses and studies concerning Islam often bear the mark of ethical value... more Contemporary political analyses and studies concerning Islam often bear the mark of ethical values and judgements that obtain in the cultural context of the authors.In this respect, two main tendencies can be discerned. The first, which we might call “Western-centred”, is to be found in the works of specialists in Oriental or Islamic studies who have been trained in the West and are thence impregnated with its culture. When analysing Islam, they judge it on the basis of the moral or political norms pertaining in the West. The second, which could be characterised as “apologetic”, generally finds its reflection in the writings of Moslem thinkers who, reacting against the first school's attacks on Islam, try to glorify it and, in particular, set out to identify in Islam all the cultural notions and inventions of the modern world, in other words, the Western world. According to this second school, Islam is, for example, the inventor and disseminator of democratic government, socialism, the separation of powers, human rights and humanitarian law. This paper seeks to provide a balanced objective view of the Islamic legal heritage!

Journal of Financial Crime, 1999

Private International Law South Asian States’ Practice, Sai Ramani Garimella and Stellina Jolly (Eds)), 2017

It is proposed to consider in this chapter in some detail, issues relating to jurisdiction, choic... more It is proposed to consider in this chapter in some detail, issues relating to jurisdiction, choice of law, and the enforcement in Sri Lanka of foreign arbitral awards. It is noteworthy that the Arbitration Act No. 11 of 1995, which is currently in force in Sri Lanka, applies uniformly to the conduct of purely domestic arbi- tration proceedings as well as to arbitration proceedings conducted in Sri Lanka involving one or more foreign parties and to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Decisions of the courts in Sri Lanka have emphasized the consensual nature of arbitration and adopted a policy of minimum judicial intervention into arbitration proceedings. The courts also have been supportive of arbitration and endeavoured to assist and safeguard the arbitral process. The chapter will examine the provisions of the Arbitration Act that attempt to deal with certain issues involving conflicts of jurisdiction and the doctrine of Kompetenz-kompetez which seeks to empower the arbitral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction. In particular, an effort will be made to examine in some detail, questions involving jurisdiction that arise in the context of section 5 of the Arbitration Act, in comparison with the law and practice that exist in other South Asian jurisdictions. The choice of applicable law has always been a problem that has confounded arbitral tribunals when dealing with cases that have cross-border connections and connotations, and it is noteworthy that the Sri Lankan Arbitration Act recognizes the concept of party autonomy in regard to choice of law. An attempt will be made in the chapter to show how Sri Lankan arbitral tribunals and courts have dealt with issues arising from competing norms of national law as well as foreign law. Prior to the enactment of the Arbitration Act in 1995, there were many issues pertaining to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. While the Arbitration Act has resolved most procedural issues regarding enforcement of foreign awards, there remain many grey areas, particularly in regard to the concepts of arbitrability and public policy, and the interpretation of the enforcement provisions of the Sri Lankan Act, which seek to give effect to the international obligations that arise from Sri Lanka’s ratiﬁcation of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards without any reservations. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka have dealt with some of these issues, which will be examined, in detail in this chapter. An attempt will be made in the chapter to explain how Sri Lankan arbitral tribunals and courts have dealt with issues arising from competing norms of national law as well as foreign law

This is the text of the address made by Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC at the 50th Session of the Afr... more This is the text of the address made by Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC at the 50th Session of the Afro-Asian Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) held in Colombo from 27th June to 1st July 2011. In his address under the title “Recent Developments relating to in the UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration and the New York Convention on the Enforcement and Recognition of Foreign Arbitral Awards”, Justice Marsoof adverted to his experience with the Afro-Asian Legal Consultative Organization and went on the deal with the 2010 revision to the UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration. The focus of his address was on the changes introduced to the UNCITRAL Rules in 2010 to make the rules more efficacious and user friendly, and also how the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards had contributed to the popularity of the UNCITRAL Rules.

Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), 2008

I take pleasure in sharing an article written by late Prof. Wickrema Weerasooria and published in... more I take pleasure in sharing an article written by late Prof. Wickrema Weerasooria and published in the Sunday Times of 25th May 2008 titled “Bank held liable for money transfer to a ‘non-existent’ foreign bank.” The article was based on a judgment pronounced by me in 2008 in the case of Vanathawilluwa Vineyard Ltd. v The Commercial Bank of Ceylon (2008) 1 SLR 68, also reported in the Commonwealth Law Report at [2008] 5 LRC 225. The decision sparked much interest and the points of importance that arose in the case for decision are explained with great clarity and precision by Prof Weerasooria, a great academic who also specialized in Banking law and many other facets of Commercial and International Trade Law.

This is the Sri Lankan paper presented by Justice Saleem Marsoof PC, Judge of the Supreme Court o... more This is the Sri Lankan paper presented by Justice Saleem Marsoof PC, Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, entitled “The Natural Capital & the Rule of Law – A Sri Lankan Perspective” at the Second Asian Judges Symposium on Natural Capital and the Rule of Law held in Manila, Philippines, in December 2013. In this brief paper, after a brief introduction, Justice Marsoof discusses the importance of the Sri Lankan coast and ecosystem, particularly, as a defence against natural disasters, and goes on to shed light on the existing Sri Lankan legal infrastructure, before examining the role played by the Sri Lankan Judiciary at various levels in ensuring compliance by the relevant authorities of their obligations with respect to the conservation, management and protection of the Sri Lankan coast and ecosystems and its natural capital in general.

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Ceremonial Address, 2005

Justice Saleem Marsoof PC was ceremoniously welcomed by the Sri Lankan Bar on 11th February 2005 ... more Justice Saleem Marsoof PC was ceremoniously welcomed by the Sri Lankan Bar on 11th February 2005 which auspiciously coincided with the 1st day of Muharram AH 1426. The welcome addresses were made by Attorney-General Hon. K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC and President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Mr. Ikram Mohomed PC. After formally thanking the Hon Attorney-General and the President of the Bar Association, Mr. Justice Marsoof went on to thank the Registrar and staff of the Court of Appeal and discuss some of the major problems faced by the Court and suggesting a few solutions as well. His Lordship also expressed the view that diversity is an important characteristic of a virile judiciary and stated that for that reason the judiciary should consist of not only career judges and opportunities must be available for those from the official and unofficial Bar to be recruited into the judiciary. He also observed that to provide greater diversity, the recruitment criteria formulated by the Constitutional Council should be amended in consultation with all stakeholders, and every effort should be made to overcome some of the difficulties and problems that exist in recruitment policy. He also insisted the need for every Judge to stand for Justice and his own commitment to Justice, eloquently quoting from the Holy Quran and other scriptures and from previous holders of judicial office in Sri Lanka and overseas. He concluded expressing his heartfelt gratitude to his respected teachers including his own parents and thanking his family for continuing to guide him in his life journey.

Meezan, 1979

This is a slightly revised version of my article entitled “The Custody of Children in the Muslim ... more This is a slightly revised version of my article entitled “The Custody of Children in the Muslim Law of Sri Lanka” published in (1979) Meezan 23. Meezan is an annual publication of the Muslim Majlis of the Sri Lanka Law College, and has been the primary repository of my articles relating to Muslim law. The article primarily deals with the principles of Muslim Law that applies to Muslims of Sri Lanka with respect to the custody of minor children. The principles are mainly sharita’t based, and have been well illustrated by reference to Sri Lankan judicial decisions, and wherever appropriate, comparisons have been made with the principles of the Common law of Sri Lanka that do not apply to Muslims of Sri Lanka in regard to custody of children.
Since the Quazi Court that exercises matrimonial jurisdiction over Muslim inhabitants of Sri Lanka has not been conferred with the power to deal with issues of custody and access, cases involving custody are dealt with by the District Courts in Sri Lanka. Most of the judicial decisions discussed in the article are of the appellate courts on appeals from District Courts, or decisions relating to habeas corpus applications. In the concluding part of this article, the question of whether the custody jurisdiction should be vested in the Quazi Court after it is appropriately upgraded to modern standards is also considered, since the vesting of the custody and matrimonial jurisdictions in two different courts can not only cause unnecessary difficulties to the estranged spouses and the affected children but can also put justice in disarray due to the possibility of inconsistent decisions emanating from a multiplicity of jurisdictions.

This Report of a Committee of Experts chaired by Justice Dr. Saleem Marsoof, and consisting of Se... more This Report of a Committee of Experts chaired by Justice Dr. Saleem Marsoof, and consisting of Senior Professor Janitha A Liyanage, Ven. Professor Magammana Paññananda Thero, Rev. Dr. Benet Shantha Fernando, Senior Professor Narada Warnasuriya, Dr. Chandra Embuldeniya and Mr. Prasantha Lal De Alwis PC, was submitted to the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka (UGC) on 31st August 2020. The Report was titled, “Redressing Victims of Ragging & Providing a Regulatory Mechanism to Prevent Ragging Related Abusive Conduct in Sri Lankan State Universities and Higher Educational Institutions”.
Every intake of students to Sri Lankan state universities and other institutions of higher learning have in one way or another highlighted the breakdown of value system and discipline in our society through an increasingly phenomenal menace called “ragging”. The enactment by the Parliament of Sri Lanka of legislation entitled the Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act No. 20 of 1998 has not succeeded in curtailing this phenomenon. Despite the enactment of legislation, during the first two decades of the new millennium we continued to hear of new entrant students dying or suffering serious injuries due to ragging or related violence. Many students have reportedly dropped out of these state universities and higher educational institutions, and many other eligible students have refrained from opting to study in these institutions due to ragging related abusive conduct. This has not only adversely affected the students and their families, but also deprived the state of valuable human potential that could have been harnessed for national development.
It is in these circumstances that on the instructions of the then Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, this Committee was appointed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) by its letter dated 31st January 2020 to specifically address the issue of providing appropriate relief to students who have been deprived of their education due to ragging in state universities and higher educational institutions coming within the purview of the UGC during the academic year 2014/2015 onwards. This Committee was also required to propose a regulatory mechanism to prevent ragging to ensure that the affected students do not suffer the same fate when re-admitted to an academic institution. The initial reporting period of 3 months was extended by another 3 months due to the advent of Covid-19 which affected the work of the Committee, and the Report of the Committee was handed over to the Chairman of the UGCV on 31st August 2020 withing the said reporting period.

Graduation Address, 2020

This is a synopsis of the address made at the Graduation Ceremony of the CfPS Law School held at ... more This is a synopsis of the address made at the Graduation Ceremony of the CfPS Law School held at the BMICH on 15th February 2020. In the course of the address, emphasis was laid on the special aspects of the law a budding lawyer aspiring to enter the legal profession in Sri Lanka should be familiar with. Such knowledge will be extremely useful in the delegent discharge of functions as a legal practitioner in any career in the public sector as Judicial Officers, State Counsel, legal draftsmen or in the private sector as bankers, securities regulators, or as legal researchers and teachers of law, or in building up of careers as legal practitioners in the highly lucrative private bar. Sri Lanka’s rich cultural heritage is reflected in its complex legal fabric, which in a sense, is a “legal museum” exhibiting side by side, laws of diverse origins. It is therefore important to stress that those LL.B graduates of the University of London intending to work in Sri Lanka should make a specially study of Sri Lankan law which govern Sri Lanka’s property law, contract law, law of persons including matrimonial law and the law of succession including last wills, which may fall outside the scope of the University of London Law degree.

Colombo Law Journal, 2016

Journal of Financial Crime , 1999

Pursuing a Vision of Justice Ed. Senaka Weeraratna, 2022

Website of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law (AAFL) of the University of Colombo, 2022

Journal of Financial Crime, 2003

Colombo Law Review: Symposium 2020 Special Edition, 2020

Plenary address at CICASH 2021, 2021

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

International Review of the Red Cross, Mar 31, 2003

Journal of Financial Crime, 1999

Private International Law South Asian States’ Practice, Sai Ramani Garimella and Stellina Jolly (Eds)), 2017

Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), 2008

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Ceremonial Address, 2005

Meezan, 1979

Graduation Address, 2020

Ceylon Daily News of 30th December 2002, 2002

Extracts from the Marhoom Dr. A. M. A. Azeez Memorial Oration delivered by Additional Solicitor G... more Extracts from the Marhoom Dr. A. M. A. Azeez Memorial Oration delivered by Additional Solicitor General Justice Saleem Marsoof PC, under the title "Dr. A.M.A. Azeez's contribution to Muslim Education" at the Mahaweli Centre auditorium on 10th December, 2002 on the invitation of the Dr. A. M. A. Azeez Foundation and the All Ceylon YMMA Conference. In this oration, the illustrious life of Marhoom Azeez was considered under the sub-headings (1) Marhoom Aziz as a Civil Servant; (2) Marhoom Aziz as an Educationist; and (3) Marhoom Aziz as a Politician. The service rendered by the late Dr. A.M.A Azeez to the Muslim community and the nation has been assessed under the above three sub-headings in intricate detail in the oration

An Abstract This is the text of the inaugural K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC Memorial Oration delivere... more An Abstract

This is the text of the inaugural K.C. Kamalasabeyson PC Memorial Oration delivered Justice Saleem Marsoof PC, Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on Friday, 22nd August 2008 at the HNB Towers amidst a distinguished gathering comprising judges, legal luminaries, civil servants and the public. The event was organised by the Kamalasabeyson Foundation. The title of the Oration was “Some Thoughts on the Sovereignty of the People and the Rule of Law.”

This oration was delivered to honour one of Sri Lanka's most distinguished Attorneys General who passed away while holding office. Delivered at a time when the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka had become a dead letter, and many of its salutary provisions had gone into disuse due to non-implementation by the Executive, robbing the nation of good governance and democratic rights, the oration traversed some historical events that took place in England and the United States which shaped the concept of Sovereignty of Parliament in both countries, eventually influencing affairs of government in Sri Lanka and the current state of the Rule of Law. The oration also traversed Sri Lanka history, in particular, the establishment of the Republic of Sri Lanka through an autochthonous constitution in 1972 which broke away from the heritage of British rule in Sri Lanka and the intricacies of the Constitution of 1978 and the state of democracy in Sri Lanka. The oration was well received.

Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva PC and Attorney General C. R. de Silva PC were among the invitees who addressed the gathering on personal notes, prior to the delivery of the oration. The huge and lasting contribution of former Attorney General K. C. Kamalasabeyson PC to the legal jurisprudence of the country, his exceptional court skills, the high level of integrity he upheld throughout his illustrious career and his hallmark gentlemanly ways, were highlighted by the speakers who addressed the gathering.

The inaugural K. C. Kamalasabeyson PC award in recognition of Critical Scholarship in the Field of Public Law presented by the K. C. Kamalasabeyson PC Foundation and administered by the Sri Lanka Law College was won by State Counsel Althaf Marsoof.
State Counsel Althaf Marsoof had won several awards in the past including the H.N.G. Fernando Memorial Prize for Legal Research and the Walter Ladduwahetti Gold medal for Excellence. Althaf Marsoof’s critical essay on “The Doctrine of Separation of Powers and the Independence of the Judiciary in the Modern Constitutional setting in Sri Lanka” was adjudged the best out of a large number of entries by a distinguished panel of judges.The Gold medal, certificate and cash award of Rs. 25,000 was presented to winner Althaf Marsoof by Mrs. Ramani Kamalasabeyson on behalf of the Foundation.

The Daughter of the late Attorney General K.C. Kamalasabeyson, Vidhya said the Foundation has the objective to promote charitable and legal education development related causes, including the promotion of critical legal scholarship all over the country.

A collection of Legal Essays in Honour of Kamalasabeyson edited by Justice Saleem Marsoof and State Counsel N. Wigneswaran was also released with the first copy of the book being presented to Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva PC.

(This abstract was based on a news report that appeared in the Ceylon Daily News of 25th August 2008.
Link: http://archives.dailynews.lk/2008/08/25/news21.asp)

Bar Association Law Journal (Sri Lanka), 2011

The inaugural Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) Oration was delivered on 21st May 2010 b... more The inaugural Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) Oration was delivered on 21st May 2010 by Justice Saleem Marsoof P.C, Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, on the topic "Improving the Efficacy of Commercial Dispute Resolution in Sri Lanka" . The oration, which was delivered before a very distinguished gathering was well received, but unfortunately, what was intended to be a series of orations on topics of interest, could not be continued due to the decision by the relevant authorities to close down the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The text of the inaugural oration was published with end notes in [2011] Bar Association Law Journal Vol. XVII pages xli to xlvii

The main focus of this paper would be the drafting and lodging of effective criminal and civil ap... more The main focus of this paper would be the drafting and lodging of effective criminal and civil appellate pleadings before the courts exercising appellate jurisdiction in Sri Lanka, which are mainly the Provincial High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. It is important for every Counsel to be aware of and to comply with all provisions of law and rules of court relating to the drafting and lodging of pleadings, and there is much more to effective pleading than sticking to the rule book. The objective of this paper is to outline the elements of good pleadings while highlighting some of the pitfalls of bad pleadings. An earlier version of this paper was prepared for my presentation on the same subject at a Seminar organized by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka on 20th September 2019, but this is shared soliciting views of comments of readers with a view of improving it prior to publication.

This is a brief note on the issues that the people of Sri Lanka as well as the government of Sri ... more This is a brief note on the issues that the people of Sri Lanka as well as the government of Sri Lanka have to face in regard to the disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims. While the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines have with consistence provided for burial and cremation as alternate modes of disposing of the bodies of victims, the Sri Lankan authorities have not shown the same level of consistency, varying the policy and practice twice withing a short span of a week between 26th March 2020 and 1st April 2020.
Decisions relating to the manner of disposing the bodies of victims of COVID-19 are extremely sensitive, and may have to be taken in the backdrop of many socio-economic and religio-cultural factors, in addition to the applicable pragmatic health safety considerations. In Sri Lanka, while the decision whether to cremate or bury the body of a deceased person who is found to be a victim of Coronavirus or COVID-19 is a decision that the next-of-kin is lawfully entitled to take, there may be many Constitutional and legal provisions that govern the decision.
The paramount consideration in the context of the pandemic situation that prevails is the safety and protection of the people and the need to stop the spread of the virus. Hence while the religious sentiments of the people and religio-cultural practices are important, COVID-19 is a serious public health risk that may require the adoption of exceptional and extraordinary measures to bring into control the pandemic situation that has arisen in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world.

Unpublished, 2024

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) predates Litigation. Long before courts of law were set up in ... more Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) predates Litigation. Long before courts of law were set up in advanced societies, disputes were resolved through ADR processes such as negotiation, conciliation, mediation, adjudication or arbitration. From ancient times ADR was considered the most efficient mode of resolving disputes for achieving Justice and making peace. It is only in more recent times that Courts stepped in to support ADR processes where legislative provisions had been enacted for such support by way of facilitation or assistance in the enforcement of decisions reached through ADR. Alternate Dispute Resolution has a major role to play in resolving international trade disputes in the modern world.

In 2003 a valuable collection of essays was published in in honour of the late Deshamanya H.L. de Silva, P.C entitled "Human Rights, Human Values, and the Rule of Law" edited by late Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe and Mr. S.S. Wijeratne! I am happy to share my contribution to the said volume entitled..., 2003

In 2003 a valuable collection of essays was published in in honour of the late Deshamanya H.L. de... more In 2003 a valuable collection of essays was published in in honour of the late Deshamanya H.L. de Silva, P.C entitled "Human Rights, Human Values, and the Rule of Law" edited by late Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe and Mr. S.S. Wijeratne! I am happy to share my contribution to the said volume entitled "The Expanding Canvass of Franchise and Livelihood" focuses on how the fast evolving universal norms of human rights have enriched the right to franchise and livelihood.