Cross-Border Jurisdictional Protocol
Sri Lanka is a Hague Service Convention signatory with an unusual mix of declarations: it objected to Article 8, 10(a), and 10(c), but lodged no objection to Article 10(b), meaning direct service through Sri Lankan District Court Judges acting as competent persons is valid, alongside the formal Central Authority route through the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice in Colombo. Sri Lanka accepts requests in English, Sinhala, or Tamil, and charges no government fee. Sri Lankan authorities have also invoked Article 13 to reject a Hague request on sovereignty grounds in a high-profile case involving the country's own president.
We submit the Hague request to the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice in Colombo, which forwards it to the relevant District Judge for execution under Section 50 of Sri Lanka's Civil Procedure Code.
Start a Sri Lanka Central Authority filing →Since Sri Lanka has not objected to Article 10(b), direct service through District Court Judges acting as competent persons is a valid alternative to the full Central Authority process.
Discuss Article 10(b) service →Sri Lanka accepts requests in English, Sinhala, or Tamil. We prepare filings in the language that best fits the case and the defendant's location.
Prepare a compliant filing →Complete National Jurisdiction
Active network of local agents, court officers, and Central Authority specialists covering every administrative region.
All international document handoffs are executed pursuant to local sovereignty statutes and returned with court-certified evidentiary declarations.
Judicial Knowledge Base
No. Sri Lanka objected to Article 10(a), so postal channel service from abroad is not valid.
Yes, uniquely among many jurisdictions covered here. Sri Lanka has not objected to Article 10(b), so direct service through District Court Judges acting as competent persons is valid alongside the Central Authority route.
No. The Government of Sri Lanka charges no fee for executing service requests.
English, Sinhala, or Tamil — all are accepted by Sri Lanka's Central Authority.
Yes, on limited grounds. Sri Lanka's Ministry of Justice has publicly invoked the Convention's sovereignty and security exception to decline service in at least one high-profile case, so requests touching sensitive government matters should anticipate this possibility.
Consult with our international legal support specialists about service of process in Sri Lanka.