The Investigator’s Handbook: Sri Lanka Edition

What the Sri Lanka edition covers

1. Sri Lanka 1. Domestic legal process: who can ask for what, and how

   This chapter sets out the Sri Lankan instruments an investigator uses to preserve data, obtain subscriber and traffic records, reach bank records and hold money: the Computer Crime Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2025, and the money-laundering and financial-reporting laws as amended in August 2026. It also says plainly who cannot use those powers, what an electronic record needs before a court will admit it, and how a foreign investigator fits in.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Which texts this chapter relies on
   • Who can ask for what
   • Who may not use these powers, and what to do instead
   • Preservation, freezing and retention
   • Subscriber data, traffic data and content
   • Emergency requests
   • User notice and non-disclosure
   • Interception: awareness only
   • The Online Safety Act: what it is and what it is not
   • Data protection law
   • How a foreign investigator relates to Sri Lankan law
   • Admissibility of electronic records
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

2. Sri Lanka 2. Internet and telecom providers: finding who to serve

   This chapter shows how to work out which Sri Lankan company holds the subscriber record behind an IP address, a mobile number or a .lk domain, what the regulator publishes, what the law says providers must keep, and where the public record stops. Sri Lanka has no ISP page in the Ministry’s directory, so the chapter builds the answer from the regulator’s licence register and the official registries instead.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Regulator and licensing
   • From an IP address to a provider
   • Domains
   • From a phone number to a provider
   • What providers must keep
   • Who to serve, and what the Ministry’s directory gives you
   • What to ask for in each reply
   • Foreign platforms with local presence
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

3. Sri Lanka 3. Banks, wallets and national reporting: money and complaints

   This chapter explains where a cyber-fraud loss in Sri Lanka is reported, which legal tools can hold or suspend funds, what the Central Bank’s consumer-protection regulations require a bank to do and by when, and how a complaint climbs from the bank to the Central Bank. It is candid about gaps: we found no single national portal that places a hold across banks, and no published deadline for a bank to freeze a transfer on a customer’s report.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Reporting: who receives what
   • How funds are held or suspended
   • What the customer’s bank must do, and by when
   • The complaint ladder for the account holder
   • Wallets and payment systems
   • Our pages and the numbers on them
   • Cryptocurrency losses
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

4. Sri Lanka 4. Cross-border: treaties, platform routes and what Sri Lanka’s authorities can send out

   This chapter sets out Sri Lanka’s treaty position as the official lists show it, the central authority and procedure for incoming and outgoing mutual legal assistance, how Sri Lankan requests reach the large US platforms, and what a foreign agency should send to reach a Sri Lankan provider or bank. It ends with a decision flow and a checklist. The shared analysis of MLAT, CLOUD Act and Budapest routes is in global Chapter 4; this chapter adds the Sri Lankan specifics.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Treaty and convention position
   • The central authority
   • Incoming requests: how a foreign agency gets Sri Lankan records
   • Outgoing requests: what Sri Lanka’s authorities can send abroad
   • How Sri Lankan requests reach the large US platforms
   • Police and other channels (awareness)
   • What a foreign agency should send to reach Sri Lankan providers or banks
   • Decision flow
   • Checklist

5. Sri Lanka 5. Templates, contacts and quick reference

   This chapter gives the national agencies you will deal with, three ready-to-adapt templates written for Sri Lankan law (a preservation notice, an application for a warrant for subscriber and traffic data, and an emergency request), a one-page “who do I call first” table by case type, and a quick-reference card of sections and time limits. Chapters 1 to 4 explain the law behind each item.

   Sections in this chapter

   • National agencies
   • Template 1: Preservation notice to a domestic provider
   • Template 2: Application for a warrant for subscriber and traffic data
   • Template 3: Emergency request
   • Who do I call first?
   • Quick reference

Every edition also includes the global reference: how data requests work, the seven big platforms, the 116-service directory, country routes, cryptocurrency, evidence handling, templates and a glossary. See the full contents or try the free First 24 Hours checklist.

Related directories for Sri Lanka

• Bank fraud help in Sri Lanka
• How police in Sri Lanka request data from platforms
• Cybercrime agencies in Sri Lanka
• Law-enforcement request hub (LERS)

Questions