Upawansa Yapa

Upawansa Yapa was born on 2 November 1941 in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka.

Yapa received his education at Nalanda College Colombo and while at school, he led both Sinhala and English debating teams.[1] He subsequently attended the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1960, where he obtained Bachelor of Arts degree.

In 1965 Yapa joined the Ceylon Law College and was admitted as an advocate of Your Lordship's Court in February, 1969. He joined the Attorney General's Department as a Crown Counsel in 1970 and served in the Department's Criminal Division. Later he rose to the position of Senior State Counsel, Deputy Solicitor General, Additional Solicitor General and finally as the Solicitor General.

He was appointed President's Counsel in September 1992. Yapa has appeared for the State in several important Criminal trials, including Sepala Ekanayake aircraft hijacking case.

• Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers "Bench and Bar pay tribute to seven legal luminaries". 28 November 2007. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
• Attorney General's Department Sri Lanka "Permanent Holders of the Office of Solicitor General Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
• Hulftsdorp Hill 17 January 1999 An honourable man was denigrated
• Kobbekaduwa Commission Crisis: Bar to defend Upawansa Yapa
• World: South Asia Sri Lanka torture goes unpunished
• Minister cites personal reasons for two members quitting commission probing HR abuses
• Tribute to seven distinguished members of Inner Bar
• How an honourable man was belittled
• මනම්පේරි ඝාතන කතාවේ සැඟවුනු රහස්‌ - 04 "කොණ්‌ඩෙ පීර පීර හිටිය දරුව පොලිසියෙන් පැනල අරන් ගියා"
• මානව හිමිකම් උල්ලංඝනය වීම් පිළිබඳ සොයාබැලීමට විශේෂ ජනාධිපති කොමිසමක් [2006.11.07