The Third Volume of the Royal Institute of Colombo Law Journal was successfully launched on the 20th of November 2022 at Royal Institute International Auditorium in the presence of the Chief Guest Hon. Attorney General Mr. Sanjay Rajaratnam, President’s Counsel, the Chairman of RIC Mr. G. T. Bandara, the Academic Director Dr. Nirodha Bandara, and other legal professionals involved in the publication of this Journal. The event was also enriched by a panel discussion held on the topic of ‘The Importance of Legal Writing Skills in Legal Practice’ which was graced by the Attorney General Mr. Rajaratnam PC, President’s Counsel Mr. Chandaka Jayasundere, Senior Lecturers of RIC, Mr. Amila Siriwardene and Mr. Mahela Liyanage, and was moderated by lecturer Mr. Shane Foster.

The discussion addressed questions such as the benefits of engaging in legal writing skills in the early stages of legal education, inadequacies seen in Junior Counsel in terms of legal drafting skills, the structure of submission, and an assortment of other questions related to legal drafting. The RIC Law Journal bears two previous successful volumes published in 2020 and 2021 respectively. As in the previous years, this year too, the Journal possesses a great range of legal articles authored by law students, law graduates, and legal professionals with articles focused on topics such as Administrative law, Arbitration, Commercial, Corporate, and Contract law, Family law, Criminal law and Forensics, Cyber Crimes and Public and Private International law.

A notable achievement for the Editorial Committee of Volume III was receiving an article written by a Sri Lankan national enrolled in the LLB Programme at the Queen Mary University of London. The Editorial Committee for Volume III of the RIC Law Journal was headed by the Editor-in-Chief Shenaz Hajireen and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kaveen Saparamadu. The Editorial Committee consisted of 19 other members, namely Adheeb Anwar, Amanda Fernando, Amaya Wijesinghe, Anudi Athuraliya, Ashalya Dharmasena, Astina Peter, Deana Perera, Dhawalani Sumanarathne, Dihanie Amerasinghe, Hashendra Jayasuriya, Kivindi De Alwis, Nisal Pathiraja, Rihini Jayasuriya, Sadiya Cassim, Suhanya Devanjee, Suhara Chandrasekera, Subeektcha Sivakumar, Taniya Perera, Tharini Ratwatte.

The team engaged in an extensive process of calling for the submission of articles and then carrying out a rigorous process of editing the articles while checking the compatibility of citations in accordance with the OSCOLA style of referencing. During this time, the Editorial Committee also organized and hosted a two-day webinar session on legal writing and research, where the topics of ‘The OSCOLA style of referencing was conducted on the first day by Mr. Amila Siriwardena, and the ‘Work of a Legal Researcher’ was conducted on the second day by Ms. Sachini Seneviratne, a notable alumnus of RIC. Upon completion of editing by the Student Editorial Committee, the articles were sent for expert review by the Senior Review Committee which is a body of prominent legal professionals who review the articles for the precision of content and accuracy of arguments.

This year’s Senior Review Committee was headed by the Chief Senior Editor Mr. Seevali Amitirigala - President’s Counsel and included prominent figures such as Mr. Kuvera De Zoysa PC, Prof. Ravindra Fernando, Dr. Aparrajitha Ariyadasa, Dr. U. A. T. Udayanganie, Dr. Nishara Mendis, Mr. K. A. A. N. Thilakarathna, Mr. Dumindu Madhushan, Ms. Chathurika Akurugoda, Mr. M. C. M. Muneer, Ms. Sandunil Meepe, Mr. Amila Siriwardena, Mr. Mahela Liyanage, Mr. Shane Foster, Mr. Hashane Mallawarachchi, and Ms. Pramodha Weerasekera. The succeeding weeks leading up to the publication of the Journal were spent compiling the publication while ensuring that all articles were of the best quality and were suitable to be featured in our Journal. The Royal Institute of Colombo Law Journal is best known for its originality in being the first-ever student-run law journal in the country published by a body of law students.