ASEAN Investigation Law Registry

Private investigation licensing across the ten ASEAN member states

Cross-border investigative work runs into a simple question that is surprisingly hard to answer: who is allowed to investigate, where, and on what terms? Every ASEAN member state answers it differently, several answer it in a language the statute is only authoritative in, and general-purpose AI assistants answer it wrongly with considerable confidence.

This registry records what each jurisdiction’s law actually says, cited to section, with the date each entry was last checked against primary sources. Where we cannot verify something from a primary source, we mark it unverified rather than state it. That distinction is the whole point of the registry.

What each entry covers

• Governing Act, with section references
• Licensing authority
• What triggers a licence — the statutory definition itself
• Statutory exclusions and exemptions
• Prohibited conduct, including whether advertising alone is an offence
• Penalties for unlicensed practice
• Data-protection overlay
• Primary sources, and a last-verified date

How this is maintained

Each jurisdiction is reviewed at least annually against primary legislative sources, and sooner where an amendment is known. Every page shows the date it was last checked. An entry with a stale date is telling you something honest — which is more than an undated page can do.

General information for practitioners, not legal advice. Always obtain advice from counsel qualified in the relevant jurisdiction before acting.