Dr. K. A. A. N. Thilakarathna is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public and International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo. He obtained his LL.B. (Hons) with Second Class Upper Division in 2015 and went on to complete his LL.M. at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in 2020, graduating top of his batch. Demonstrating an interdisciplinary inclination, he further earned a Master of Sociology (M.Soc) from the University of Colombo in 2022, enriching his legal scholarship with socio-legal perspectives.
In March 2025, he was awarded the Ph.D. for his thesis titled “The Role of Judicial Activism in the Domestication of International Human Rights Treaties: A Comparative Study.” His doctoral research offers a critical and comparative analysis of how domestic courts internalize international human rights obligations, examining the jurisprudential techniques and constitutional dynamics through which international norms are absorbed into national legal systems. His work contributes to ongoing debates on judicial activism, constitutional interpretation, and the relationship between international and domestic law.
Dr. Thilakarathna is also an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. His teaching and research span public international law, constitutional law, international human rights law, judicial review and activism, law of the sea, and the broader intersection between law and society.
He has a keen and growing interest in the field of Artificial Intelligence and the Law, particularly in exploring the constitutional, human rights, and regulatory implications of emerging technologies. His current academic pursuits engage with questions surrounding algorithmic governance, accountability of AI systems, digital rights, and the evolving role of courts in technologically mediated societies. Through this interdisciplinary engagement, he seeks to bridge classical public law theory with contemporary technological challenges.