The Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration and the officers of the newly set-up Mutual Legal Assistance Unit took an oath of secrecy to maintain a formal obligation to ensure confidentiality as a best practice.
Mutual legal assistance law in Sri Lanka is primarily governed by the Mutual Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters Act, No. 39 of 2000, and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, No. 25 of 2002 (as amended by Act No. 24 of 2018).
In terms of these Acts, the Secretary to the Ministry assigned the subject of Justice is established as the Central Authority for mutual legal assistance in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the set-up was such that the Legal Division officers of the Ministry, among their other duties, were required to carry out the mutual legal assistance work on behalf of the Secretary as the Central Authority.
However, in consideration of the crucial nature of facilitating, accelerating, and centralizing the process of obtaining evidence, testimonies, and cooperation from and for foreign countries, comments by international evaluators and the legal requirements brought in via legal amendments, the set-up of the Legal Division was changed by assigning the mutual legal assistance work to MLA Unit, dedicated to such task last year (2025).
On 27 February 2026, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration and the officers of the newly set-up MLA Unit took an oath of secrecy to maintain a formal obligation to ensure confidentiality as a best practice.
Confidentiality is a fundamental principle in mutual legal assistance and is also provided under section 6A of the Act, No. 25 of 2000 (as amended).
