President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Court of Appeal judge Mayadunne Corea as Acting President of the Court of Appeal, and Justice Corea was sworn in before the President at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday morning (21).
The appointment covers an absence rather than a vacancy. The incumbent President of the Court of Appeal, President’s Counsel Rohantha Abeysooriya, is overseas until 24 September, the President’s Media Division said in an announcement carried by the Daily Mirror and NewsFirst. The acting term therefore runs for about three working days.
Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was present at the swearing-in.
The name
The Daily Mirror gives the judge’s full name as Mayadunna Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea and spells the first element “Mayadunna”; NewsFirst spells it “Mayadunne”. The two outlets are describing one judge. The incumbent’s surname is likewise rendered “Abeysooriya” by the Daily Mirror and “Abeysuriya” by NewsFirst.
Why a caretaker is needed at all
The President of the Court of Appeal is not only a judge but the court’s administrative head, responsible for constituting benches and allocating cases. An acting appointment keeps that function staffed while the office-holder is abroad, so listings and bench assignments do not stall.
The Court of Appeal sits directly below the Supreme Court and hears appeals from High Courts and District Courts, along with writ applications against the acts of public authorities — a workload that runs continuously and cannot easily absorb an administrative gap.
Not reported
Neither outlet says why the President of the Court of Appeal is overseas, when he left, or what the acting appointment’s formal instrument provides for should the absence run past 24 September. Neither gives Justice Corea’s seniority on the Court of Appeal bench, which is ordinarily the basis on which such an appointment is made, nor says whether he has acted in the role before.
