Navigating the complexities of global jurisprudence.

The District Court of Colombo recently delivered a landmark judgement awarding compensation to a disabled child whose disabilities had arisen as a direct result of the negligent conduct of the hospital and medical professionals at the time of her birth. Additional District Judge, Justice Kalhari Liyanage, by her judgment dated 13.09.2022, awarded a sum of Rs.30,000,000 to the said child holding, inter alia that the plaintiff had successfully managed to establish a direct causal link between the

The various cyber security breaches in 2022 affecting government institutions such as SriLankan Airlines, the Ministry of Health, the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Department of Examinations, have exposed the need for a robust cyber security framework to be established. The first draft of the Cyber Security Bill in Sri Lanka was released in December 2019 and has gone through subsequent changes. The salient features of the most recent draft which is publicly available are as fo

The Casino gaming business in Sri Lanka is regulated by the Casino Business (Regulation) Act 17 of 2010 (“Act”). Nearly 12 years after its enactment, the Minister of Finance has issued Casino Business Licensing Regulation No. 1 of 2022 (“Regulation”) giving effect to the provisions of the Act. A brief overview of the Regulation is set out below. Matters taken into consideration when evaluating an application 1. Minister shall consider the financial background of the applicant, and whether the

As it stands under the current Sri Lankan legal framework women are permitted to work during night hours only in limited circumstances. The need for the lifting of such restrictions had been proposed by the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment in Sri Lanka which subsequently received Cabinet approval on 8 th August 2022. The easing of such restriction will be reflected by way of amendments to the Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act No.19 of 1954, wher

The Personal Data Protection Act of Sri Lanka was passed in parliament and was certified by the Speaker on 19th March 2022 and is the principal legislation that deals with the protection of personal data in Sri Lanka. For the large part the Act being in line with global legislation to include the GDPR, filling a long-felt lacuna in the area of information privacy in Sri Lanka. The Act being brought into force, has however a phased - out application (as detailed in this writing) providing for a

The proposed 21st Amendment to the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was published via gazette supplement dated 6th May 2022. The said bill was introduced as a private member’s bill and was presented to the cabinet on 17th May 2022. In brief, the bill proposes significant changes/reductions to the powers and duties vested in the executive president under the current constitution whilst seeking to enhance the role of the Prime Minister. In addition, the bill also see

<p>The Press Release dated 31.05.2022 was issued by the Media Division of Prime Minister’s Office setting out several proposals revising the VAT regime. A summary of salient features of such proposals is set out below:<br><br></p><table><thead><tr><th scope="col">Current</th><th scope="col">Proposed</th><th scope="col">Effective Date</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><strong>1. Changes in Tax Rate</strong></td></tr><tr><td data-label="Current">8%</td><td data-label="Proposed">12%</td>

<p><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> Proposed Tax Reforms – Value Added Tax (“VAT”) In Sri Lanka The Press Release dated 31.05.2022 was issued by THE Media Division of Prime Minister’s Office setting out several proposals revising the VAT regime. A summary of salient features of such proposals is set out below: Current Proposed Effective Date 1. Changes in Tax Rates   8%   12%   With immediate effect (i.e., 01.06.2022)   2. Reduction of Threshold

What is Arbitration? Arbitration is a means of non-judicial dispute resolution by referring a dispute to a neutral party (an Arbitrator) for a binding decision, or “Award”, which is enforceable in Court. Arbitration is generally sought by parties as it provides more flexibility in resolving the dispute when compared to litigation in Court. For example, Arbitration has the advantage of allowing parties to formulate a more flexible and efficient timeframe to conclude proceedings. Parties may also

Applicability Any person including individuals, companies, Funds, NGO’s, partnerships who has not disclosed any amount of taxable supply, income or asset which was required to be disclosed under laws related to income tax enacted in 1979, 2000, 2006 and 2017 (“IR Laws”) and Value Added Tax Act No. 14 of 2002, as amended (“VAT Act”) in respective returns for any taxable period ended on or prior to 31.03.2020, subject to the restrictions. Qualification to Claim Invest or deposit an amount equiv