Avishka Lakwijaya-Reiffer (he/him) is one of the summer students at WCEL for 2025. He is a second-year student at the University of Victoria’s JD program. Avishka is passionate about addressing access to justice issues, learning about legal pluralism, and intersectional environmental justice.
Avishka spent parts of his childhood in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Dubai before moving to Surrey where he went to school and worked in the territories of the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), and Semiahma (Semiahmoo) nations. He now lives on the Coast Salish territories.
Avishka did a Bachelor of Arts in History at UVic. Following his graduation in 2021, he did co-op work-terms at the Employment Standards Branch in BC, the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, and at the Surrey Art Gallery where he collaborated with co-workers and community artists to advocate for accessible arts programming. Prior to joining WCEL, Avishka was a co-op student at Woodward & Company, a firm that works for Indigenous governments, businesses, and organizations.
Through Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC), Avishka has volunteered with Innocence Canada and the Restorative Justice Association of BC. He is also currently volunteering at Together Against Poverty. At UVic Law, he is an Amicus tutor for first year law students. He also served as the 2L representative on the Equity and Diversity Committee from 2024-2025.
In his free time, Avishka likes to paint, play racquet sports, watch cricket and hockey, and play video games.