The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

is the Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

n envoy

Envoy

Envoy may refer to:*an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary*a Special Envoy*a diplomat in general*Envoy , the British Vauxhall cars for Canadian market in 1960-'70*Envoy , a document reader and document file format...

 to United Kingdom. Countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 typically exchange High Commissioner

High Commissioner

High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...

s, rather than Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

s. Though there are a few technical differences (for instance, whereas Ambassadors present their diplomatic credentials to the host country's head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

, High Commissioners are accredited to the head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

), they are in practice one and the same office. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is concurrently accredited

Dual accreditation

Dual accreditation is the practice in diplomacy of a country granting two separate responsibilities to a single diplomat. One prominent form of dual accreditation is for a diplomat to serve as the ambassador to two countries concurrently...

 as High Commissioner to the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The current High Commissioner is Dr.

Doctor (title)

Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...

 Chris Nonis.

Representatives of the Government of Ceylon

Representative	Start of Term	End of Term
Sir Sir Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...  Claude Corea Claude Corea Sir George Claude Stanley Corea was a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat.-Family background:He was born on 29 January 1894 to a well known Ceylonese political family hailing from the Western seaboard town of Chilaw. His father was Alfred Winzer Corea who was an officer in government police and his...	1946	1949

High Commissioners

High Commissioner	Start of Term	End of Term
Sir Sir Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...  Oliver Goonetilleke	1949	1952
Sir Sir Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...  Edwin Wijeyeratne Edwin Wijeyeratne Sir Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne, KBE was a Sri Lankan politician, diplomat, and one of the founding members of United National Party. He was a Senator and Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development in the government of DS Senanayake...	1952	1954
Sir Sir Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...  Claude Corea Claude Corea Sir George Claude Stanley Corea was a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat.-Family background:He was born on 29 January 1894 to a well known Ceylonese political family hailing from the Western seaboard town of Chilaw. His father was Alfred Winzer Corea who was an officer in government police and his...	1954	December 1957
Gunasena de Soyza Gunasena de Soyza Gunasena de Soyza CMG OBE was High Commissioner for Ceylon in Britain from 1960 until his death. He had previously been the most senior civil servant in Ceylon.-Life:... , CMG Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III.... , OBE	December 1957	October 1958
P.R. Gunasekera	October 1958	February 1960
Gunasena de Soyza Gunasena de Soyza Gunasena de Soyza CMG OBE was High Commissioner for Ceylon in Britain from 1960 until his death. He had previously been the most senior civil servant in Ceylon.-Life:... , CMG Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III.... , OBE	February 1960	October 1961
R.S.S. Gunawardena	October 1961	June 1963
Professor Professor A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...  Gunapala Malalasekera Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera was a Sri Lankan professor, scholar and diplomat. He was the first Ceylon Ambassador to the Soviet Union,Ceylon High Commissioner in Canada, Ceylon High Commissioner to United Kingdom and Ceylon Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.-Early life... , OBE	June 1963	February 1967
Sir Sir Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...  Lalita Rajapakshe, QC QC In Commonwealth countries, QC refers to Queen's Counsel, a distinguished and experienced legal practitioner.QC may also refer to:* Quebec Canada Post provincial abbreviation...	February 1967	October 1969
M.V.P. Peiris, OBE	October 1969	December 1970
Tilak Goonaratne	December 1970	1975
Vernon Mendis Vernon Mendis Deshamanya Dr Vernon Loraine Benjamin Mendis is a prominent Sri Lankan diplomat, who served as the United Nations' Special Envoy to the Middle East...	1975	1977
Noel Wimalasena	1977	January 1981
A.T. Moorthy	January 1981	May 1984
Chandra Monerawela	May 1984	March 1990
General General A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....  Sepala Attygalle, LVO	1990	August 1993
General General A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....  Cyril Ranatunge	August 1993	February 1995
S.K. Wickremasinghe	February 1995	January 1999
Dr. Doctor (title) Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...  Lal Jayawardena Lal Jayawardena Lal Jayawardena was a noted Sri Lankan economist and diplomat, and was the first director of the World Institute for Development Economics Research...	January 1999	July 2000
Mangala Moonesinghe Mangala Moonesinghe Mangala Moonesinghe is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2002 and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India from 1995 to 2000...	July 2000	April 2002
Faiz Mustapha, PC	April 2002	February 2005
Kshenuka Senewiratne	February 2005	May 2008
Justice Justice Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...  Nihal Jayasinghe	May 2008	31 December 2010
Dr. Doctor (title) Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...  Chris Nonis	1 September 2011	Present

External links

• The High Commission of Sri Lanka