Profile: Lakshman Kadirgamar

Profile: Lakshman Kadirgamar

Lakshman Kadirgamar was born on April 12th 1932 . He hailed from a distinguished Tamil
protestant Vellala family with deep roots in Jaffna.

Lakshman was the youngest son of Sam J.C.Kadirgamar (Senior) of 17 Queen's
Road,Colombo. S.J.C.Kadirgamar QC.(junior) was Lakshman's eldest brother. Lakshman's
other older brothers were Col.Bai Kadirgamar of the Ceylon Army, Rear Admiral Rajan
Kadirgamar of the Ceylon Navy. The only surviving member of the family is Mrs. Isawari
Richards, wife of the late Dr.A.M.D.Richards. Lakshman's mother is the older sister of th late
Rev.B.C.D.Mather, grand-father of Sri Lankan Test cricketer Russel Arnold. Jaffna College ex -
principal Rajan Kadirgamar was a first cousin of Lakshman.

He was a distinguished product of Trinity College, Kandy where he was widely acclaimed for his
all round excellence as scholar, prize winner. He won Trinity's coveted Dr. Andreas Nell
Memorial Prize for Ceylon History and the Napier Clavering Prize for English.

Lakshman K was the Editor of the College Magazine and captained the Cricket team. (His Vice
Captain and Lion was his former Cabinet colleague and namesake Lakshman Jayakody and his
team also had former Deputy Defence Minister T.B. Werapitiya).

He was also a rugby colousman and athletics Lion breaking many records in hurdles. He
culminated his trail blazing school career being appointed as the Senior Prefect in 1949 and
winner of the much coveted Ryde Gold Medal for the best all round student in 1950.
Mr. Kadirgamar was offered the captaincy of the Sri Lanka contingent to the 1956 Melbourne
Olympics but he declined to accept it due to pressure of his law examinations.

Mr. Kadirgamar read for his LLB degree at the University of Colombo. He obtained a Bachelor of
Laws (Honours) degree from the University of Ceylon in 1953. He was placed first in the First
Class at the Advocates Intermediate Examination the same year. The following year, he was
placed first in the First Class at the Advocates Final Examination of the Ceylon Law College and
was admitted to the Ceylon Bar in 1955.

He later proceeded to Balliol College, University of Oxford where he read for a degree in
Letters. In 1958 Mr. Kadirgamar was admitted to the United Kingdom Bar as a Barrister at Law,
Inner Temple. On completion of his studies at Balliol College, Oxford, he was awarded a B.Lit.
by the University of Oxford in 1960. He was the President of the Oxford Union in 1959. and won
the august seat of learning's Cricket Blue.

Recently, he was honoured by the Oxford Union when the prestigious university unveiled his
portrait.

An all round sportsman, he also held the All India Hurdles Record both at Ahmedabad and
Allahabad.
The crowning glory of his legal career was when he was elected as an Honorary Bencher of
Inner Temple, one of the four ancient Courts of Great Britain in its 496 year history, being only
the second Asian to do so after former Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahaman in 1974.
He was also a president's counsel.
Prior to taking to politics as a National List Member of Parliament in the People's Alliance
Government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 1994, he headed a United
Nations Intellectual Property Organisation as its Director where he was responsible for the
drafting of legislation of nineteen governments.

Mr. Kadirgamar practiced law at the Ceylon Bar from 1960 to 1971 and before the Privy Council,
London, in the years 1955 to 1960 and 1971 to 1974, practicing among the eminent barristers
of the time.
He functioned as a Consultant to the International Labour organization (ILO) in Geneva in 1974.
In 1976 he joined the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO) and served as a Director
until 1988 advising all governments of Developing Countries in Asia and the Pacific on
Intellectual property.
On resumption of practice at the Sri Lanka Bar, he specialized in Commercial, Administrative,
Intellectual Property, Industrial and Labour, Constitutional and International Law. He was
appointed President's Counsel in 1991.

Mr. Kadirgamar served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property for the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Foreign Affairs Study Group appointed by the President of Sri
Lanka. He chaired the Committee for Up-grading Consultancy Services in the Construction
Industry of Sri Lanka.

He was a member of the Panel of Consultants on Law Reform in Sri Lanka appointed by the
Minister of Justice. He was also the one-man Commissioner appointed by Amnesty International
to investigate the Catholic-Buddhist crisis in Vietnam in 1963.
He is the author of a number of articles published in international legal journals such as the
Modern Law Review, The South African Law Journal, The Conveyancer, property law.

He entered poliics due to the efforts of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam. He was appointed national list
MP for consecutively for 4 times in 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2004.
He functioned efficiently as foreign minister and spearheaded a campaign to ban the LTTE
worldwide.

Kadirgamar became a trusted confidante of President Kumaratunga and played an active part
in the peace process.
He also functioned as peacemaker in many intra - and inter - SLFP problems. His close rapport
with the JVP in particular was of immense benefit to the party in recent times. [TamilWeek]