New Defence Secretary – Kapila Waidyaratne

Former Additional Solicitor General and President’s Counsel Kapila Waidyaratne has been appointed as the new Defence Secretary by the President today.

Mr. Widyaratne was appointed to the post following the resignation of Karunasena Hettiarachchi.

Waidyaratne was educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia. He graduated from the University of Colombo (Batchelor of Science Economics) and the Sri Lanka Law College. He was awarded a master’s degree in International Relations University of Colombo and is a solicitor in the United Kingdom.

Waidyaratne was appointed a President’s Counsel in 2014.

Waidyaratne has also served in Fiji as a judge of the Court of Appeal and also served as a Trial Attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 1998 until 2003.

He Joined the Attorney General’s Department in  November 1983 as an Acting State Counsel and promoted to the post of Senior State Counsel in the year 1996. He promoted as Deputy Solicitor General in 2005 and promoted as Additional Solicitor General in December 2013.