Another important unique aspect in the faculty of Law is the partnership with the Ministry of Justice for the establishment of a Legal Research Unit. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Ministry of Justice and the University of Colombo on 06-10-2016 to establish the Legal Research Unit in the Faculty. The purpose of the establishment of the Legal Research Unit is to facilitate researches in legal aspects including researches with multi-disciplinary focus. The Research Unit is also expected to provide a platform for collaborative research nationally among the different state funded law teaching institutions, state universities, relevant professional institutions including the Sri Lanka Law College and relevant government agencies. The Legal Research Unit was inaugurated in February, 2017 by the Vice Chancellor and the then Minister of Justice Dr Wijedasa Rajapakse and the financial assistance was made by the Ministry of Justice to purchase computers, furniture, books and certain other equipment.
The Unit purchased recent publications of core books in law and made them available to the teachers for their research. Many teachers are regular users of these books.
The following areas have been identified by the Ministry of Justice for research that is currently being carried on by academics and legal practitioners and the Unit facilitates the same:
- Reforms under Muslim Law
- Marital Rape and Abortion Law
- Reforms to address delays in the administration of Justice
- Labour Law Reforms
- Commercial Mediation
Mr A Sarvesvaran, a senior academic, has been appointed as the Director of the Unit. The Legal Research Unit has requested the Ministry of Justice to allocate funds for the research and waiting for the response. The roof renovation work of the Legal Research Unit area has suspended the recent operations of the Unit.
