Kalinga Indatissa, President’s Counsel has declared his intention to come forward as a candidate for the post of President, Bar Association of Sri Lanka, (BASL) at the election scheduled for February 2019.
Kalinga Nandaka Indatissa had his early education at St. Mary’s College, Kegalle and at Royal College, Colombo.
After passing his A/L Examination he joined the Sri Lanka Law College in 1982 at a relatively young age of 17. At Law College, he excelled in academic studies and secured First Class Honours at the Preliminary and the Final Examination. During his career at Law College he won the Roman Dutch Law, Criminal Law and Law of Evidence prizes.
He also functioned as President of the Law College Jaycees and President of the Law College Moot Society. He was the Student Advisor to the Law College Human Rights Society and the Legal Aid Scheme. In 1984, he was awarded the Sir Cyril De Soyza Gold Medal for being runner up at the Address to the Jury competition.
Tutor
After passing his final examination at Law College, Indatissa apprenticed in the Chambers of Eardley Perera PC, Tivanka Wickramasinghe PC and D.S.Wijesinghe PC. He was admitted to the Bar in May 1986.
After a short career in the unofficial Bar, Indatissa joined the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel in January 1987. In the Attorney General’s Department, he served mainly in the civil branch and appeared in many original and appellate courts.
Indatissa was attached to the staff of the Sri Lanka Law College since 1986. He commenced his teaching career as a tutor in Criminal Law, and eventually lectured on several other subjects. He also functioned as an examiner attached to the Council of Legal Education.
He has been a visiting lecturer at the Surveyors’ Institute in Diyatalawa, Ceylon Hotel School, the Police Higher Training Institute and conducted many public lectures and seminars.
In 1991, Indatissa resigned from the Attorney General’s Department and joined the unofficial Bar. Since then he has developed a lucrative practice mainly in, criminal law, intellectual property, customs-related matters, exchange control violations, computer crimes and sports law.
From his early days at the Bar, Indatissa has been involved in the activities of the BASL.
He functioned as the Convenor of the Junior Bar Committee, Chairman of the Committee, Editor of the Colombo Law Society and a member of the Colombo Law Society Committee.
He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association, Chairman of Law Asia Young Lawyers Group and member of the Law Asia Council. He was Secretary of BASL from 2003 - 2004. Indatissa has held public office on many occasions functioning as a member of the Central Environmental Authority, Trustee of the Mahapola Higher Educational Trust Fund, senior consultant to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Secretary of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka.
Indatissa has also had the opportunity to extend his career in foreign jurisdictions.
In 1999, he appeared in Monaco at an arbitration held by the International Athletics Association and successfully defended Susanthika Jayasinghe which enabled her to participate at the Olympics in Sydney where she won the Bronze Medal.
Resource person
He also defended Arjuna Ranatunga at a match fixing inquiry conducted by the ICC and represented the former National Captain as junior counsel to S.L. Gunasekera. In 2011, he defended Manju Wanniarachchi in Delhi, India, and later at Arbitration in Malaysia. Indatissa appeared in the Commission appointed to inquire into the killing of General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and the Commission appointed to look into the killing of the late Lalith Athulathmudali.
Currently he is the lead Counsel for former Sri Lankan Cricket Captain, Sanath Jayasuriya at a pending investigation held by the ICC.
Indatissa has written many articles to newspapers and law journals and authored 46 books on many topics of Law. His books on Civil Procedure, Bail, Criminal Law, Electronic Transactions, Computer Crimes, Law of Injunctions, Drafting and Supreme Court Rules are much sought after.
Indatissa has been a resource person who contributed immensely at seminars, workshops, and National Law Conferences organised by the BASL and at the Practical Training programs organized by the Sri Lanka Law College.
In August 2018, he received the National Award for the “Sustainable Development Goals Role Model Leader” awarded by the Sri Lanka United Nations Friendship Organization in recognition of his contribution to legal education and the legal profession in Sri Lanka.