As year 2020 comes to an end, we trace the trend of Malaysian involvement and usage of arbitration based on published statistics of these major arbitral institutions. Read more

In UDA Land Sdn Bhd v Puncak Sepakat Sdn Bhd, the High Court was required to determine whether an award should be set aside because the sole arbitrator wrongly concluded that it had no jurisdiction to determine a counterclaim and insolvency set-off raised in the arbitration. Read more

In Sunway Creative Stones Sdn Bhd v Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd and Anor, the Malaysian High Court refused to set aside an arbitral award because the applicant had not challenged the arbitrator’s jurisdiction and conduct when the issues arose during the arbitral proceedings. Read more

On 25 August 2020, the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Bill 2020 (Bill) was passed by the Dewan Rakyat. The Bill seeks to provide temporary measures to mitigate the financial and social impact of Covid-19. Read more

The House of Representatives in Japan passed a bill to expand the Act on Special Measures concerning the Handling of Legal Services by Foreign Lawyers (the “2020 Gaiben law”). This is significant as it allows foreign lawyers to act in a broader range of arbitrations, and it reduces the post-qualified experience required for foreign lawyers to be registered in Japan. Read more

The Court of Appeal in Yeo Eng Lam v Infinity Vantage Sdn Bhd considered whether an express reservation of a right to refer a dispute to arbitration in a defence and counterclaim pleading was effective to preserve a right to elect to arbitrate a dispute wrongly commenced in court. Read more

In a recent judgment, the Malaysian High Court in Government of Malaysia v Nurhima Kiram Fornan & Ors for the first time granted an anti-arbitration injunction to restrain foreign arbitration proceedings on the basis of sovereign immunity. Read more

Malaysia is anticipating the new corporate liability provision to take effect on 1 June 2020. The new corporate offence under the MACC Act is applicable to the broadly defined “commercial organisation”, which not only includes Malaysia incorporated companies but also commercial organisations incorporated outside Malaysia that carry on business or any part of a business in Malaysia. Read more