Ranasinghe Arachchige Kapila Nishantha Perera vs Hon. Attorney General – SC APPEAL 122/2020-2024

In the case between Ranasinghe Arachchige Kapila Nishantha Perera and others (Accused-Appellant-Appellants) and the Hon. Attorney General representing the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the court addressed whether ordering a retrial eighteen years after the alleged offence contravened principles of a fair trial and whether the appellate court improperly shifted the burden of proof onto the accused, given that the prosecution had presented a strong prima facie case. The court determined that the evidence at trial established the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and minor judicial misstatements regarding legal principles (including the Ellenborough dictum and the Lucas principle) did not justify overturning convictions where the prosecution’s evidentiary burden was satis