Embattled Media: Democracy, Governance and Reform in Sri Lanka

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena is a Sri Lankan legal analyst whose work encompasses advocacy, research and litigation in the protection of civil liberties. After graduating with honours from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo in 1993 and upon being admitted to the Bar, she appeared in several media law cases in the appellate courts and challenged the Sri Lankan State before the United Nations Human Rights Committee on violations of international standards. She has drafted Right to Information and Contempt of Court laws and authored local and internationally referenced books on Sri Lanka's Rule of Law challenges. The editorial (legal) consultant for the Sunday Times since 2000, she contributes a law-based column 'Focus on Rights' for the newspaper. A 2001 Salzburg Fellow, a 2003 WISCOMP (New Delhi) Scholar of Peace Fellow and the 2007 Sri Lankan recipient of the International Woman of Courage award by the United States Department of State, she was conferred a Distinguished Visitor Fellowship by the Research School of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University (ANU), Canberra in 2013.