Dinesha Samararatne

Dinesha Samararatne is a Professor at the Department of Public & International Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her research interests include judicial review, public participation in constitution-making, constitutional resilience, women and constitutional law, fourth branch institutions and the relevance of the global south in comparative constitutional law. Dinesha has published widely. Dinesha is a Senior Research Associate, Laureate Program in Comparative Constitutional Law and Co-Convenor of Constitution Transformation Network (CTN) of the Melbourne Law School, Australia. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Indian Law Review. In 2023 she was appointed as an independent expert to the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka.

Qualifications, Fellowships and Certifications

  • PhD 2015

    Doctor of Philosophy

    University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

  • LL.M 2009

    Master of Law

    Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA

  • LLB (Hons) 2005

    Degree of Bachelor of Law

    Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

  • Attorney-at-Law 2006

    Admitted and enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law

    Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

  • Certificate 2017

    Certificate of Accreditation of Senior Teachers in Higher Education

    SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association, UK) accreditation, Staff Development Centre of the University of Colombo

  • CTHE 2008

    Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education

    with SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association, UK) accreditation, Staff Development Centre of the University of Colombo

  • PresentMarch, 2023

    Editor, University of Colombo Review

  • PresentJanuary 2023

    Member, Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka

  • PresentOctober 2021

    Director, Career Guidance Unit, Faculty of Law

  • 20232021

    Guest Editor, Journal of Comparative Constitutional Studies (Special Issue on Methodologies)

  • 20222022

    Guest Editor, University of Colombo Review (Special Issue on Equity)

  • Present2020

    Articles Editor

    Indian Law Review

  • 2021 2019

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Laureate Program in Comparative Constitutional Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Australia.

  • 2021 2011

    Senior Lecturer

    Faculty of law, University of Colombo

  • 20182016

    Member

    Steering Committee, Centre for Gender Equality, University of Colombo

  • 20182015

    Member

    Management Committee of the Centre for Excellence in Disability Research Education and Practice, University of Colombo

  • 20182016

    Senior Advisor

    Legal Aid Unit, Faculty of Law

  • 20182016

    Legal Advisor

    Newsletter of the University of Colombo