
Scientia PhD Candidate
Ayesha commenced her PhD in UNSW Law in 2020. Prior to joining UNSW, Ayesha worked as a Research Associate in the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore and was an Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of Comparative Law. She also worked as a Consultant for the Max Planck Institute of International Peace and the Rule of Law, Heidelberg, Germany.
Ayesha graduated from NUS with an LLM specialising in International and Comparative Law. She is also an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka graduating with First Class Honours from Sri Lanka Law College. During her apprenticeship period, she worked in the Attorney General’s Department, Sri Lanka and later appeared in fundamental rights cases and civil appeals in Sri Lanka. She holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Colombo and a BA in French (First Class Honours) from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
Constraining Abusive Constitutional Change in Sri Lanka: Towards an Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendment Doctrine.
Sri Lanka and its fragile democracy have experienced periods of illiberal democracy and moments of democratic revival. While political culture plays a significant role in this process, my research particularly focuses on abusive constitutional change in Sri Lanka through the formal amendment procedure and explores the Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendment doctrine as a potential solution. In doing so, I will examine comparative models of the doctrine with a focus on South Asian jurisdictions. This research therefore hopes to provide significant contributions as and when Sri Lanka enters its next moment of liberal-democratic revival in pursuit of consolidating democratic gains.
Prof. Theunis Roux, Prof. Rosalind Dixon, and Prof. Melissa Crouch
Comparative constitutional law, democracy and the rule of law, international humanitarian law, and transitional justice.
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