Category: Legal News
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Lanka Data Launches Comprehensive Intellectual Property (IP) Search Platform for Sri Lanka
New AI-powered database brings patents, industrial designs, and trademarks together in a single searchable platform Colombo, Sri Lanka – Lanka Data has announced the launch of a comprehensive Intellectual Property (IP) Search platform, providing centralized access to Sri Lanka’s patents, industrial designs, and trademark registration records. The platform aims to simplify how innovators, entrepreneurs, legal professionals, researchers, and…
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Supreme Court Upholds Copyright Rights of JVP Leader Tilvin Silva in Landmark Intellectual Property Case Against Wimal Weerawansa
Colombo, Sri Lanka – The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has affirmed the importance of copyright protection under the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003, ruling in favour of Mesthri Tilvin Silva in a landmark dispute involving former JVP parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa over the unauthorized use of written material in a published book. Read Judgement The case centred on…
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BASL Unveils Draft Framework on the Use of Generative AI in Legal Practice
Colombo – The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has released a draft framework on the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in legal practice, signalling the legal profession’s growing efforts to address the opportunities and challenges presented by rapidly evolving AI technologies. The draft document outlines a proposed set of principles and best practices for lawyers…
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Justice Goes Digital
Can Technology Finally Help Sri Lanka Catch Up With Itself? There are few institutions that attract more public criticism than Sri Lanka’s court system. Ask almost any litigant, lawyer or businessperson what frustrates them most and the answers tend to be remarkably consistent. Cases take too long. Documents move too slowly. Administrative delays accumulate until…
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Lanka Law Launches AI Legal Drafting Tool, Bringing Professional Document Automation to Lawyers, Businesses, and the Public
Colombo, Sri Lanka – Lanka Law has announced the launch of its new AI Legal Drafting Tool, a powerful legal technology solution designed to help lawyers, HR professionals, business owners, and members of the public prepare legal documents quickly and efficiently using artificial intelligence. The newly released platform enables users to generate a wide range of legal…
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Court of Appeal Annuls VAT Assessment Against LOLC Finance in Landmark Tax Ruling
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of LOLC Finance PLC, annulling a Value Added Tax (VAT) assessment imposed by the Inland Revenue Department for the 2011/2012 tax year, in a significant decision clarifying the scope of “financial services” under Sri Lanka’s VAT law. The appeal arose from a dispute between LOLC Finance PLC…
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Incorporation Acts (1957-2026)
An incorporation act is a formal law passed by a parliament to legally create a specific organization. This unique legislative mechanism transforms a private group of individuals into a singular, recognized corporate person with its own distinct legal identity. By bypassing the standard corporate registration route handled by a registrar of companies, this direct vote…
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Supreme Court Revives Treasury Bond Case, Orders Trial to Proceed
In a significant legal development concerning Sri Lanka’s controversial Treasury Bond scandal, the Supreme Court has overturned a Court of Appeal decision that effectively halted criminal proceedings against several accused persons and entities, including a leading primary dealer, and ordered the case to proceed before the High Court at Bar. The judgment relates to allegations…
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Sri Lanka’s Sweeping New Insolvency Bill Could Reshape Business, Banking and Corporate Survival
Sri Lanka is preparing for one of the biggest commercial law reforms in its post-independence history, with the proposed Rescue, Rehabilitation and Insolvency (Corporate and Personal) Bill, 2026 set to radically transform how businesses collapse, restructure, survive, or recover from financial distress. The nearly 600-page draft legislation seeks to repeal the country’s decades-old Insolvency Ordinance and replace…
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Derivative Action Against NDB Raises Serious Questions Over Maintainability Before Commercial High Court
The derivative action filed against National Development Bank PLC (“NDB”), its Board of Directors and external auditors Ernst & Young has now evolved into a far broader controversy involving not only the underlying Rs. 13.2 billion fraud, but also the legitimacy, independence and maintainability of the legal proceedings themselves. In a corporate disclosure issued to the Colombo Stock Exchange…
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LankaLaw Unveils Major AI Upgrade, Strengthening Its Lead in Sri Lanka’s Legal Tech Revolution
Since its launch in January 2024, LankaLaw has established itself as the leading and pioneering force in legal artificial intelligence in Sri Lanka, transforming how legal professionals, students, and the wider public access legal information. Now, the platform has unveiled its latest version of its AI Assistant, offering one of the most comprehensive legal research ecosystems ever…
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SUPREME COURT DRAWS A HARD LINE: Bunker Fuel is Not an Export – Tax Break Denied
COLOMBO: In a landmark and closely watched ruling, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has decisively settled a long- standing dispute: the supply of bunker fuel to foreign- flagged vessels within Sri Lankan territorial waters is not an export. Delivering the majority judgment, Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz, with Justice Shiran Gooneratne concurring, held unequivocally that such transactions amount…
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Court of Appeal Rules in Favour of Central Bank, Sets Aside Order of the RTI Commission on EPF Transactions
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, setting aside a decision of the Right to Information (RTI) Commission that had directed the disclosure of detailed transaction level information relating to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). The case arose from an RTI request submitted by Verité Research (Pvt)…
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Lawyers’ on Trial
Sri Lanka’s lawyers decided to strike as a collective protest against the brutal daylight killing of an Attorney-at-Law and his wife, which has heightened fears about the safety of legal professionals and the wider breakdown of public security. The strike reflects deep concern that attorneys-at-law face an existential threat in carrying out their duties, frustration…
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Nations Trust Bank (NTB) Accused of Potential Double Recovery in HSBC Loan Acquisition
Concerns are mounting over the legal rights of thousands of HSBC Sri Lanka customers particularly those classified as bad or non-performing borrowers following the Central Bank’s recent approval for Nations Trust Bank (NTB) to acquire HSBC’s retail banking business in Sri Lanka. Legal experts warn that the transfer raises serious questions about contractual validity, borrower…