8. Amendment of section 7 of the principal enactment

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

Section 7 of the principal enactment is hereby amended as follows:-

(1)

by the repeal of subsection (2) of that section and the substitution of the following subsection therefor:–

“(2) Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person who is suspected to be involved in or is able to provide evidence or assistance in any criminal matter within the jurisdiction of a criminal court in Sri Lanka,-

(a)

is in a specified country, the Central

Authority shall on his own volition or on the request of a competent authority, request the appropriate authority of a specified country or specified organization in such specified country to assist in locating such person;

Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters

(b)

where the identity of such person is not known, the Central Authority may in his discretion or on the request of a competent authority, request the appropriate authority of a specified country or specified organization to–

(i)

interview;

(ii)

record statements;

(iii)

obtain documents or articles, from such persons believed to be connected with such person and forward such information to the Central Authority. The

Central Authority shall where necessary, forward the same to the relevant competent authority. Documents or articles obtained shall be clearly marked by the appropriate authority.”;

(2)

by the insertion immediately after subsection (3) of that section, of the following new subsection:–

“(4) Subject to sections 10 and 21, the interviewing and recording of a statement of a person as specified in subsection (2), shall be done by a law enforcement authority in Sri Lanka or a law enforcement authority as may be assigned by an appropriate authority or by a combined team of the said law enforcement authorities.”;

(3)

by the repeal of the marginal note to that section and the substitution of the following marginal note therefor:-

“Reciprocating assistance in relation to locating and identifying persons.”.

Read on from s 9