Dr Asanga Gunawansa

Dr Asanga Gunawansa is President’s Counsel and the Lead Counsel of Colombo Law Alliance in Sri Lanka, and has been recognised at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 as Contracts Law Expert of the Year in Sri Lanka. The award celebrates practitioners whose command of contract and commercial law is regarded as exemplary in their jurisdiction.

About Dr Asanga Gunawansa

According to Colombo Law Alliance, Dr Gunawansa was called to the Bar as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1993 and has over 30 years of experience as a legal counsel; he was appointed as a President’s Counsel in January 2024. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and an LL.M in International Economic Law from the University of Warwick, England, and is a BIARI fellow of the Brown International Advanced Research Institute at Brown University.

The firm states that, while practising in all areas of general commercial litigation, Dr Gunawansa is an expert in contracts, construction law, foreign investments and the legal aspects of project financing, public-private partnerships, arbitration and environmental law, and that his services are regularly sought by local and international clients, including multinational institutions. He is a Legal Consultant to the Asian Development Bank on public-private partnerships and to the Independent Redress Mechanism of the Green Climate Fund in Songdo, South Korea, and an Honorary Legal Consultant to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Justice. He was instrumental in establishing the Colombo International Arbitration Centre, of which he is Chairman, and serves as an arbitrator with institutions including the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), the Thailand Arbitration Centre and others.

Before returning to Sri Lanka in 2012 to establish Colombo Law Alliance, Dr Gunawansa served the United Nations as a Legal Officer, including a five-year mission in Geneva for the United Nations Compensation Commission and a mission with UNRWA, and taught construction law, water law and sustainable development at NUS. He has authored several books, including the ‘Asia Pacific Construction Law Case Book Series’ and a work on water governance, along with more than 25 articles in international journals.

About Colombo Law Alliance

Colombo Law Alliance is a Colombo-based law chamber established in 2012 that, in its own words, brings together extensive experience and expertise in providing specialised legal services. The firm’s stated focus spans commercial and corporate law, human rights law, and public and administrative law, with specific practices in arbitration, banking and finance, construction, commercial and corporate litigation, and public-private partnerships. It serves both private and public sector clients with what it describes as an innovative and pragmatic approach to complex legal issues.

Contracts law in Sri Lanka

Recognition as Contracts Law Expert of the Year in Sri Lanka reflects the foundational importance of contract law to commerce. Contracts underpin virtually every commercial relationship, and expertise in this field means drafting agreements that allocate risk clearly, advising on performance and breach, and resolving disputes when relationships break down — whether through negotiation, litigation or arbitration. Dr Gunawansa’s particular strengths in construction, project financing and public-private partnerships are closely tied to contract law, since these are areas built on complex, long-term contractual arrangements where precise drafting and skilled dispute resolution are essential.

His extensive arbitration practice and his role in establishing the Colombo International Arbitration Centre reinforce this contractual expertise, since contract disputes are frequently resolved through arbitration, especially in cross-border and infrastructure contexts.

It is against this background that Dr Asanga Gunawansa’s Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 recognition as Contracts Law Expert of the Year in Sri Lanka should be understood: an endorsement of a distinguished President’s Counsel whose deep contractual, construction and arbitration expertise is delivered through Colombo Law Alliance to clients in Sri Lanka and internationally.