After leaving the Attorney General's Department, he joined the unofficial bar engaging in private practice. He practiced in the original and appellate courts and specialized in areas of administrative law, commercial law, land law, fundamental rights and industrial law.[5]
Attorney General
Peiris was appointed Attorney General on 18 December 2008 from the unofficial bar.[6] He withdrew murder charges in a case against former deputy minister Chandana Kathriarachchi and served an indictment on unlawful assembly for which the accused pleaded guilty.[7] Furthermore, he withdrew a rape case against Government Party Parliamentarian Duminda Silva.[8]
Peiris was appointed senior legal officer to the Cabinet in September 2011.[9] He became Chairman of Seylan Bank in April 2012.[10]
He represented Sri Lanka in The UN Committee Against Torture in 2011 in which he said that the Sri Lankan Government has received intelligence information that missing lankaeNews cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda is living in a foreign country. However, he concurred that he lied when he was summoned by a local court.[11]
Chief justice
Peiris was nominated to be Chief Justice by PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa following the controversial impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake.[12][13] The Parliamentary Council gave its approval for Peiris's appointment on 15 January 2013.[14][15] Peiris was sworn in as chief justice on 15 January 2013.[16][17] Peiris was officially inaugurated as chief justice at a ceremony in the Supreme Court on 23 January 2013.[18] The media, other than the state-owned media, were banned from the ceremony which was boycotted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), the largest lawyers association in the country.[19][20] The ceremony was however attended by other judges including the associate judges of the Supreme Court.[21]
Peiris' appointment drew some criticism. Peiris is considered to be an ally of President Rajapaksa and his appointment was seen by critics as further consolidation of power by the president and his family.[22][23]United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsNavi Pillay expressed doubts about Peiris' independence and impartiality, particularly when dealing with allegations of serious human rights violations by the Sri Lankan government.[24][25] The International Commission of Jurists condemned Peiris' appointment, describing it as a "further assault on the independence of the judiciary".[26][27]
Maithripala Sirisena, the president elected on 8 January 2015, refused to take oaths before him on the basis his appointment was illegal and took oaths before Justice Hon. K. Sripavan, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
According to Sirisena, Mohan Peiris visited him several times begging not to remove him and promising to deliver judgements according to his wishes.[28]
On 28 January 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka acknowledged that the appointment of Mohan Peiris as the chief justice was void at its inception as Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake was not impeached lawfully and therefore, no vacancy existed for the post of chief justice. That paved the way for Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake to resume duties as the chief justice of Sri Lanka.[1]
Peiris's wife Priyanthi is also an attorney-at-law. Their teenage daughter Talia died in July 2002.[31] Peiris is a Roman Catholic and is a worshipper at All Saints’ Church, Borella.[32]
