Prof_Kokila

BIOGRAPHY

Kokila Lankathilake Konasinghe is a Professor in Law and the Head of the Department of Public and International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.  She is the founding Director of Centre for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP). She is a member of the Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2021-2022 of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and has represented Sri Lankan official delegation at the United Nations Climate Change COP 27, in Egypt.  Prof. Konasinghe involved in two SAARC regional level project representing Sri Lanka; the United Nations Millennium Fellowship Programme for producing the South Asian Report on Climate Change and preparing the country report on International Disaster Management Laws and Policies under a collaborative project with other SAARC countries and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. She is currently heading the research team that drafts the new National Environmental Act in Sri Lanka and a member of the drafting committee of upcoming Climate Change Act in Sri Lanka and the drafting Committee of the National Policy on Living Entities in Sri Lanka.

She is the former Director of the International Office of the University of Colombo and the President of the Arts Council of the University of Colombo. She is the former M.Phil. and Ph.D. Coordinator at the Faculty of Law.  She was a visiting researcher and a teaching fellow at Erasmus University, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, University of Granada, Spain and Jindal Global University, India. She collaborates many research programmes with the Special Centre for Disaster Research at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India.  She is a teaching fellow of Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai, India. Prof. Konasinghe is a Chair in South Asian Postgraduate Law Conference, which covers all 8 countries of the region of South Asia.  Prof. Konasinghe is the Advisor to the Asian front of the World Youth for Climate Justice which collaborates both Asia Pacific and South Asia for seeking an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice for climate justice in member states.

Her book chapters and research articles have widely appeared in locally and internationally reputed journals and publications.

Qualifications, Fellowships and Certifications

  • LL.B. Hons

    Colombo

  • LL.M.

    Rotterdam

  • Ph.D.

    Keele

  • Attorney–at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

  • Staff and Educational Association of UK (SEDA) accredited lecturer

  • Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (CTHE) course 2005

    Staff Development Centre, University of Colombo

Positions

  • 20242024

    Member

    Bar Association of Sri Lanka

  • Director

    International Unit of University of Colombo (IUUC)

  • 2015

    Student Counsellor

    University of Colombo

  • Member

    Sri Lanka Federation of University Women

  • Coordinator

    Executive Diploma in Human Rights, at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo

  • 2015

    Conference chair and a member

    editorial board at the Annual Resaerch symposium, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo

  • Member

    environment Working Group of British International Studies Association

  • 2015

    Member

    National Steering Committee for Civil Society Climate Action Plan for Sri Lanka

  • 2015

    Coordinator

    Examinations in the Faculty of Law

  • Course Director

    environmental law in LL.M. at the Fauclty of Law, University of Colombo

  • 2015

    Chief organiser

    ”Inter-University Students Research Conference on Green Crimes” held in the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo

  • 2014

    Co-editor

    Annual Research Symposium Proceedings, University of Colombo.

  • Consultant

    Researcher for National Child Protection Authority, Sri Lanka