Sinha Basnayake

Sinha Basnayake, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer. He was a former director of the General Legal Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs and a member of the UN Internal Justice Council.

Son of the prominent lawyer Hema Henry Basnayake, QC; he was educated at the Royal College, Colombo and graduated with a first-class in law from the University of Oxford. After qualifying as a barrister he joined the UN as a Legal Officer in the International Trade Law Branch of the Office of Legal Affairs, eventually becoming its director. Appointed a President's Counsel by the government of Sri Lanka, he has served in many committees of the UN.

In 1999, he served as the Secretary of the group of legal experts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.