The Hon. U.P. Abeywickrama, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. U.P. Abeywickrama outlined the existing pathways to enter the legal profession, including Law College, state university law faculties and recognized private LLB programmes, noting that admissions and standards fall under the Supreme Court and the Incorporated Council for Legal Education. He argued that the current requirement of at least 40 marks in key subjects for candidates progressing to final examinations should be maintained, and cautioned that lowering pass marks or relaxing criteria would undermine professional standards. He emphasized that Law College admissions must remain merit-based and compliant with established legal education standards.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 [5.33 p.m.]
¶ 02 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, law is a competitive and respected profession. Admission is under the Supreme Court’s purview, while the Incorporated Council for Legal Education bears responsibility for legal education standards, headed by the Chief Justice. Law College admission is highly competitive.
¶ 03 There are multiple pathways: the Law College three-year program; state university law faculties (Colombo, Peradeniya, Jaffna) followed by Law College final exams; and LLBs from recognized private institutions, who must sit the Special Entrance Examination. Historically, candidates must secure at least 40 per subject in Contract, Commercial and Administrative Law to proceed to finals.
¶ 04 To maintain standards, merely lowering to 30–35 in Contract or broadly stretching criteria would undermine quality. Responsibility rests with the Incorporated Council for Legal Education and Law College to ensure merit-based, standard-compliant admissions.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 23 September 2025 ·No. 1758876121024768 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. U.P. Abeywickrama, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 September 2025. No. 1758876121024768. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/15641