The project, entitled ‘Supporting Institution-Building to Stabilise Democracy and Strengthen the Rule of Law in Sri Lanka’, is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
This project aims to augment the capacities, practices, and institutional processes of key Sri Lankan legal institutions to discharge their functions in upholding democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, especially in view of the multifaceted crises Sri Lanka has faced in recent years. In so doing, the project aims to enhance public trust and confidence in these institutions, thereby contributing to long-term domestic stability.
This project builds on the Foundation’s previous work in local ownership, with previous local partners—namely the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka—as well as the external partner, the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of New South Wales. It also introduces a new partnership with state universities, in recognition of the role academia plays in shaping legal culture.
Working methods include seminars and trainings, judicial dialogue, capacity building workshops, training-of-trainer workshops, roundtables, and lectures, as well as the preparation and dissemination of briefing and research papers, a research handbook, guidelines on judicial conduct, and training manuals and modules. The project will run until 31 March 2028.