Part 1-4 - Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon

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Representatives in the first Parliament in 1947. He resigned in March 1948 and was appointed a Supreme Court Judge. Mr Victor Tennekoon, Q.C., Attorney General, in his address at the Ceremonial Sitting stated: "As a member of the House of Representatives he was disconcertingly frank and independent in the views he put forward in the debates in the House". The Attorney General referred to Mr. Gratiaen's "unfailing charm, his great wisdom in counsel, his devotion to his self-appointed tasks, his wit, his exquisite if sometimes pungent use of language, and for innumerable unrecorded acts of friendship and assistance to a wide circle". V.L. St. Clair Swan had a large civil practice in the District Court and Court of Requests, Colombo. In 1947 he was appointed a Commissioner of Assize. In 1950 he was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench. He retired in 1956. Mr. Swan was a kind, courteous and much respected Judge. MUiani Edward (Ned) Claude Sansoni, B.A. (Lond.),of Gray's Inn. Barrister-at-Law, was the first Burgher and fourth Ceylonese to be appointed Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. His grandfather Miliani Henri Sansoni (1849-1907), a contemporary and friend of Dornhorst, practised as a Proctor first in Haldummulla and later in Negombo. His father Sylvester Claude Aldons Sansoni, (1875-1959), J.P.U.M., Proctor, also practised in Negombo. After eight years at the Bar, Mr Sansoni commenced his long and distinguished service on the Bench when he was appointed Acting Magistrate, Dandegamuwa, in December 1937. He was Magistrate, Kandy from April 1938 to April 1942. He was District Judge and Magistrate, Tangalle, from April 1942 to April 1944. He went back to Kandy as Additional District Judge in 1946. For sometime in 1948 he was District Judge at Kalutara and in the following year he was transferred to Colombo as Additional District Judge and was later appointed District Judge, Colombo. In January 1954 he became a Commissioner of Assize and two years later was appointed a Puisne Justice. He was Chief Justice from 1964 to 1966. Mr Justice Sansoni's appointment as Chief Justice was so acceptable to the Bar that the Bar Association felicitated Mr and Mrs Sansoni by inviting them to be Chief Guests at a banquet at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel, a unique gesture. As a Judge Mr Justice Sansoni was courteous, impartial, an epitome of unruffled dignity and erudition. His numerous judgments have enriched the law of the country. In The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. Appellant and Dr. Guy de Silva, Respondent 63 N.L.R. 145, Mr Justice Sansoni held, with H.N.G. Fernando J. agreeing, that privilege 22 attaches to the publication of judicial proceedings in open Court where documents are placed before the Judge, though their contents are not read out. If the articles in question are fair and accurate reports of judicial proceedings held in open Court their publication is privileged. In S. Weerasinghe, Petitioner, andG. V.P. Samarasinghe(Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs) and 2 others, Respondents, 68 N.L.R. 361, the main argument of Counsel for the Petitioner was that the Governor General had no right to make any regulations, as section 5 of the Public Security Act which purports to give him the powers to make Emergency Regulations is beyond the power of Parliament as laid down in the Constitution. After analysis of authorities from the Privy Council, Canada, Australia and India, Sansoni C.J. held, that the delegation was not an illegal delegation of the legislative power of Parliament as there are provisions in the Constitution which ensure that Parliament retains its powers and its control over the Executive even during a state of emergency. There is nothing in the Public Security Ordinance to indicate that Parliament had abdicated its legislative authority, and transformed the executive into a parallel legislature. The Public Security Ordinance makes provision for delegation of legislative power only at a time of public emergency. Although Mr Sansoni retired from the Bench in 1966 he has served thereafter with distinction on numerous Commissions. In 1969 he became Chairman of the first Law Commission of the Island. In 1977 he was appointed to report on the communal clashes which occurred between August and September that year. He has chaired the plenary session on general issues at the Ministry of Justice Laws Delays Seminar held earlier this year. Whenever called upon to serve his country he has unhesitatingly done so. O.L. de Kretser Jnr. B.A. Hons. (London) joined the judicial service as a Magistrate and later was appointed District Judge. He served in various districts of the Island. He was a Commissioner of Assize from 1963 to 1967. In 1967 he was appointed a Puisne Justice. At a Ceremonial Sitting on the 20th January 1972, on the occasion of his retirement Mr Victor Tennekoon Q.C., Attorney General, addressing Court reminded Mr Justice de Kretser that he concluded his speech at a Ceremonial Sitting welcoming him to the Supreme Court Bench with the words: "I swear that I will administer justice without fear or favour, without affection or ill-will." The Attorney General added: "Your Lordship has redeemed that oath and that promise in full measure but of course that was to be expected." The Attorney General drew attention to Mr Justice de Kretser's judgment in 2:1
the Kodeswaran case where "a controversial question of the availability to a public servant of an action for salary earned was adopted and endorsed by the Privy Council. This decision is now regarded as the charter of public servants who before that were regarded as not having any enforceable rights in respect of their services under the Crown". Mr Justice de Kretser when he was President of the Judicial Service Association was a doughty fighter for the rights of its members. The Attorney General concluded his speech by describing Mr Justice de Kretser as "a Judge fair and impartial, a Judge courteous and unperturbed, a Judge who was no respector of persons, a Judge to whom the substance of a counsel's argument and performance was the measure of his response and not the latter's seniority, volubility, or other irrelevant consideration". Clara et venerabilia nomina. NOTES 1. Prof. T. Nadarajah, Vol. 12 (New Series) Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch, 1968 and The Legal System of Ceylon in its Historical Setting (E.J. Britt, Leiden, 1972). 5-9 2. Op. cit. 17 3. A.E. Keuneman. The Judiciary — Past and Present, Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union, Vol. 38, Jan. 1948, No. 1, 1-25 at 1,2 4. J.R. Toussaint, The Burghers in Early British Times, J.D.B.U. Vol. 25, October 1935, No. 2, 41-73 at 44. 5. Op cit 48. See also William Digby, Forty Years of Official and Unofficial Life in an Oriental Colony being the Life of Sir Richard F. Morgan, Kt. (Madras, 1879), Vol. I, 18. 6. Digby op.cit Vol. 2, 262. 7. Young Ceylon (1852), Vol. II, 147— 160. 8. C. Arasaratnam, A. Hand Book of The Supreme Court of Ceylon (Ceylon Daily News, 1929), ii. 9. J.R. Toussaint, Frederick Nell and his Literary Circle, J.D.B.U. Vol. 27, Jan 1938, No. 3, 86 — 95 at 86 — 90. 10. B.R. Blaze, The Life of Lorenz (A.N.C.L. 1948) 172 — 174. 11. J.R. Toussaint, op.cit. 91. 12. Ramanathan's Reports 1863 — 1868 (July 8, 1865) 166, The Colombo Overland Observer of 21 April, 1864, taken from the Examiner. 24 13. Arasaratnam op, cit 2; see also J.R.T., Sir Samuel Grenier, J.D.B.U. Vol.29, Jan. 1940, No. 3, 80 — 87 at 85. 14. J.R. Toussaint, Sir Samuel Grenier, J.D.B.U. Vol. 29, Jan. 1940, No. 3, 80-87 at 86. 15. Arasaratnam op. cit 11. 16. J.R.T.^Joseph Grenier, K.C. J.D.B.U., Vol. 16, 11 — 15. 17. Arasaratnam op. cit. iii. 18. Stevens and Haynes, London, 1914. 19. Arasaratnam op, cit. iv. 20. Op.cit. V. 21. L.E. Blazed C.E. de Vos, J.D.B.U. Vol. 31, Oct. 1941, No. 2, 83 — 84. 22. Ceylon Daily News 1918. 23. Lest We Forget, J.D.B.U. Vol. 57, Jan — Dec. 1967, Nos. 1 to 4, 49. 25
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Part 1-4 - Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon

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