Desmond Lorenz de Silva
Encyclopedia
Sir Desmond Lorenz de Silva, QC
, KStJ
, (born 13 December 1939) is a prominent British lawyer, and former United Nations
Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone
.
on 5 December 1987. She is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. They divorced on 6 May 2010. They have one daughter, Victoria Marie Esmé Margarita, born on 6 September 1991. Sir Desmond has one sister, Helga De Silva, whose son, Detmar Blow (namesake grandson of renowned British architect Detmar Blow
), was married to the fashion icon Isabella Blow
. He was the cousin of Lasantha Wickrematunge
. Sir Desmond is a product of Dulwich College Prep School in London and Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Sir Desmond is a senior associate member of St Antony's College, Oxford. He is a Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
in London
in 1964, and appointed Queen's Counsel
in 1984. He is one of the most high-profile criminal Queen's Counsel in England. His chambers are at 5 Bell Yard in London and include six QCs and fifty-one junior counsel. Sir Desmond is a member of the Criminal Bar Association and the International Association of Prosecutors. In 2002, the UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
appointed him Deputy Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone
, at the level of an Assistant Secretary-General. Annan later promoted Sir Desmond to the post of Chief Prosecutor at the higher level of Under Secretary-General in 2005. He brought about the arrest of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, who currently is on trial at the Hague. His role as a defence counsel has led to The Times referring to him as the "Scarlet Pimpernel" because he has saved so many people from execution in Commonwealth countries that still carry capital punishment.
In 2003, Sir Desmond was sent as an envoy by the United Nations Development Programme to persuade Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and his government to surrender indicted war criminals and to fulfil Serbia's obligation to the international community. http://www.un.org.rs/publications.jsp,http://www2.undp.org.rs//files/news/De%20Silva%20Newsletter.pdf
Sir Desmond’s breadth of legal expertise includes war crimes, espionage, treason, drugs, terrorism, human rights, white-collar fraud and sports law. His clients have included Harry Redknapp
, John Terry
, Ron Atkinson
, Hans Segers
, Lawrence Dallaglio
, Graham Rix
, Lee Bowyer
, Jamie Osborne
and Jaqui Oliver http://2pb.co.uk/barristers.php?id=1. He is also a member of the Governing Council of the Manorial Society.http://www.msgb.co.uk/council.html
in the New Year Honours of 2007, and is also a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John
and a Knight Commander of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
in its Royal Order of Francis I. He was sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
in 2011.
On 23 July 2010 he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla
.
On 23 July 2010, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, President of the UN Human Rights Council, announced that Justice Hudson-Phillips would head a panel of experts to investigate whether Israel
's deadly Gaza flotilla raid
on 31 May 2010 breached international law. Other members of the panel include the Trinidad
ian Karl Hudson-Phillips
and the Malaysian Mary Shanthi Dairiam
.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, KStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, (born 13 December 1939) is a prominent British lawyer, and former United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
.
Family background
Sir Desmond is of Sri Lankan, Portuguese and Anglo-Scottish origins and comes from a family of lawyers. He is the son of HE Frederick E de Silva, MBE, formerly Ceylon's ambassador to France and Switzerland, and the grandson of The Honorable George E de Silva, regarded as one of the founding fathers of Ceylon's (Sri Lanka's) independence from Britain. Sir Desmond married HRH Princess Katarina Karadjordjevic of YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
on 5 December 1987. She is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. They divorced on 6 May 2010. They have one daughter, Victoria Marie Esmé Margarita, born on 6 September 1991. Sir Desmond has one sister, Helga De Silva, whose son, Detmar Blow (namesake grandson of renowned British architect Detmar Blow
Detmar Blow
Detmar Jellings Blow was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became estates manager to the Duke of Westminster...
), was married to the fashion icon Isabella Blow
Isabella Blow
Isabella Blow was an English magazine editor. The muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as the fashion designer Alexander McQueen....
. He was the cousin of Lasantha Wickrematunge
Lasantha Wickrematunge
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was a prominent Sri Lankan high-profile anti-government journalist, media personality, politician and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009...
. Sir Desmond is a product of Dulwich College Prep School in London and Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Sir Desmond is a senior associate member of St Antony's College, Oxford. He is a Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
Career
Sir Desmond was called to the Bar in the Middle TempleMiddle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1964, and appointed Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1984. He is one of the most high-profile criminal Queen's Counsel in England. His chambers are at 5 Bell Yard in London and include six QCs and fifty-one junior counsel. Sir Desmond is a member of the Criminal Bar Association and the International Association of Prosecutors. In 2002, the UN Secretary-General
Secretary-General
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
appointed him Deputy Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone
Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent judicial body set up to "try those who bear greatest responsibility" for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War...
, at the level of an Assistant Secretary-General. Annan later promoted Sir Desmond to the post of Chief Prosecutor at the higher level of Under Secretary-General in 2005. He brought about the arrest of Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, who currently is on trial at the Hague. His role as a defence counsel has led to The Times referring to him as the "Scarlet Pimpernel" because he has saved so many people from execution in Commonwealth countries that still carry capital punishment.
In 2003, Sir Desmond was sent as an envoy by the United Nations Development Programme to persuade Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and his government to surrender indicted war criminals and to fulfil Serbia's obligation to the international community. http://www.un.org.rs/publications.jsp,http://www2.undp.org.rs//files/news/De%20Silva%20Newsletter.pdf
Sir Desmond’s breadth of legal expertise includes war crimes, espionage, treason, drugs, terrorism, human rights, white-collar fraud and sports law. His clients have included Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
, John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
, Ron Atkinson
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...
, Hans Segers
Hans Segers
Johannes Segers is a Dutch goalkeeper, who spent most of his playing career in England.-Career:Segers was born in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant. His early career was with home-town club PSV Eindhoven, before being signed for Nottingham Forest by Brian Clough during the 1983-84 season...
, Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero "Lawrence" Dallaglio, OBE is a retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team. He played as a flanker or number eight for London Wasps and never played for another club, having arrived at Sudbury as a teenager...
, Graham Rix
Graham Rix
Graham Cyril Rix is an English former football player and coach. He was fired by Heart of Midlothian in March 2006, which was his most recent role in professional football...
, Lee Bowyer
Lee Bowyer
Lee David Bowyer is an English professional footballer born in Canning Town, London, who plays as a midfielder for Ipswich Town of the Football League Championship....
, Jamie Osborne
Jamie Osborne
Jamie Osborne is a jockey and race horse trainer. Born 28 August 1967 he rode his first winner in March 1986 and in 1999 obtained his trainers licence. Once a favourite of the Queen Mother, he was acquitted of race fixing in 1998.-References:...
and Jaqui Oliver http://2pb.co.uk/barristers.php?id=1. He is also a member of the Governing Council of the Manorial Society.http://www.msgb.co.uk/council.html
Honours
Sir Desmond was knightedKnight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
in the New Year Honours of 2007, and is also a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
and a Knight Commander of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry. It was fictively established by Constantine the Great, though in reality it was founded between 1520 and 1545 by two brothers of the Angeli Comneni family. Members of the Angeli Comneni family remained...
in its Royal Order of Francis I. He was sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 2011.
On 23 July 2010 he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
On 23 July 2010, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, President of the UN Human Rights Council, announced that Justice Hudson-Phillips would head a panel of experts to investigate whether Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's deadly Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
on 31 May 2010 breached international law. Other members of the panel include the Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
ian Karl Hudson-Phillips
Karl Hudson-Phillips
Karl Terrence Hudson-Phillips, ORTT, QC is a former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and a former judge of the International Criminal Court...
and the Malaysian Mary Shanthi Dairiam
Mary Shanthi Dairiam
Mary Shanthi Dairiam is a Malaysian human rights and women's rights advocate and United Nations official. She has since 2004 served on the UN's Gender Equality Task Force, and on the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women...
.