Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

Commissioner, Right to Information (RTI) Commission of Sri Lanka

Commissioner Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena is a constitutional lawyer who was actively involved in the 2003/2015 information law drafting committee leading to the enactment of the country's RTI law.   She serves on the Right To Information (RTI) Commission of Sri Lanka.  Litigating in civil liberties, she has challenged the Sri Lankan State before the United Nations Human Rights Committee for infringement of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). She contributes a long-standing legal column for the Sunday Times, Colombo and has been in the forefront of media law reform including on contempt of court.

The 2013 Distinguished Visitor of the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, her many local and international awards include national recognition for earning the Appreciation of Peers and the Public by the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka in 2014.  Deputy Director, Law & Society Trust, Editor, LST Review and Deputy Editor, Appellate Law Recorder from 2004 to 2014, her several books include Still Seeking Justice (International Commission of Jurists, 2010) and (co-edited) Embattled Media (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, 2015).