9. Amendment of section 14 of the principal enactment

Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.

Section 14 of the principal enactment is hereby amended:-

(1)

in subsection (1) thereof, by the substitution for the words “enters an information system outside the control of the originator,”, of the words “leaves an information system under the control of the originator,”;

(2)

by the repeal of subsection (2) thereof, and the substitution therefor, of the following new subsection:-

“(2) (a) Unless otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee, the time of receipt of a data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication shall be determined as follows, namely-

(i)

if the addressee has designated an electronic address for the purpose of receiving data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication, time of receipt occurs at the time when the said data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication becomes capable of being retrieved by the addressee; or

(ii)

if the addressee has not designated an electronic address or has indicated another electronic address for the purpose of receiving data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication, time of receipt occurs at the time when the said data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication becomes capable of being retrieved by the addressee at that electronic address and the addressee becomes aware that the said data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication has been sent to that electronic address.

(b)

For the purpose of this subsection, a data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication is presumed to be capable of being retrieved by the addressee when the said data message, electronic document, electronic record or other communication reaches the addressee’s electronic address.”;

(3)

by the repeal of subsection (5) thereof, and the substitution therefor, of the following new subsection-

“(5) For the purposes of this section–

(a)

if the originator or the addressee has not indicated a place of business or has more than one place of business, the place of business is that which has the closest relationship to the relevant contract, having regard to the circumstances known to or contemplated by the originator or the addressee before or at the conclusion of the contract;

(b)

if the originator or the addressee does not have a place of business, his usual place of residence shall be deemed to be the place of business;

(c)

a location is not a place of business merely because-

(i)

the equipment and technology supporting an information system used by a particular originator or the addressee in connection with the formation of a contract, are in that particular location; or

(ii)

the information system may be accessed by addressee in that location;

(d)

the fact that the originator or the addressee makes use of a domain name or electronic mail address connected to a specific country does not create a presumption that the said originator or the addressee’s place of business is located in that country;

(e)

a party’s place of business is presumed to be the location indicated by that party, unless another party demonstrates that the party making the indication does not have a place of business at that location; and

(f)

“usual place of residence” in relation to a body corporate, means the place where it is registered.”.

Read on from s 10