Chanakya Jayadeva

Chanakya Chambers (Sri Lanka)

Chanakya Jayadeva is an Attorney at Law from Sri Lanka. He started his career with Dr Neelan Tiruchelvam’s Chambers in 1997 and joined as State Counsel to the Attorney Generals Department of Sri Lanka where he represented and advised the Government on Civil and Commercial litigation and drafted agreements and contracts. In 2005 he joined the private bar and practiced as a Legal counsel in all areas of Commercial and Civil Laws and he has served as consultant adviser to many private establishments. He has over 23 years practice in Civil and commercial Law fields as a lawyer. His specialised areas are Intellectual property, Law of Contract and Arbitration, Media and Broadcasting Law and Entertainment & Sports Law.

Mr. Chanakya Jayadeva is among the few Expert Attorneys who practice in Entertainment Law Sport Law and Media Law in South Asia which has a high demand. He has authored two books on “Entertainment Law and  Broadcasting Law”, and “International Entertainment Law and New Media Law”.

He served as legal consultant to Western Region Megapolis Planning Project for the Government of Sri Lanka, advised and drafted the Megapolis Authority Act, Also he advices the Medical Research Institute MRI on Ethical clearance on medical research. He serves in ADB-Financed Health System Enhancement Project, Sri Lanka on an ongoing project as National Consultant: Legal Expert for Quarantine Unit He has received several accolades and awards during his career; in 1997 he was awarded the Justice Fernando Memorial Research Prize for Legal Research. He was awarded a World Bank scholarship through the Legal & Judicial Reforms Project
(LJRP) in 2002 and received training on Commercial Law at the City University Hong Kong. In 2012, was chosen by the US Department of State to participate in a special fellowship in the United States under the International Leadership Visitors Program (ILVP) 

He is a regular speaker & resource person on World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seminars. He has also made many notable presentations and contributions at consecutive LAW ASIA, World Intellectual Property Forum (WIPF) to name a few. He is a visiting resource person for regular training at Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Law College and a lecturer at Kothalawala Defence University on Entertainment Law and Media Law.

He is also a freelance Television Presenter at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. He is a pioneer at Law Education through television by creating and hosting programmes on Law and Order on Channel Eye over 3 years. He has presented many current affairs and celebrity interview shows such as Cross Current and Diplomatic Faces. He is also the most sought after presenter in the Channel. He was awarded the prize for Best English Language Television Presenter of 2021. He presently serves as a Board Director at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.