Malaysia Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Stay of proceedings pending arbitration

Legal area

Court

19 Sept 2023

1. ) KHONG YOON LOONG 2. ) AGNES LEE LAI HENG 3. ) NG CHEE SIEW 4. ) IRENE HARTANTO @ TAN HIAN LIE 5. ) CHAN YIK LONG 6. ) HO YEE KARM 7. ) LIU KWAI LIEN 8. ) KONG CHOONG HON 9. ) LIM KA TIN 10. ) JAMAL MOHAMED PADIYATH 11. ) FOONG KIM SEON

Citation

WA-22NCC-627-11/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

WA-22NCC-627-11/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Applicants failed to prove there existed valid arbitration agreements between each of them and each Plaintiff; many defendants are non‑parties to any arbitration agreement so s.10 Arbitration Act 2005 is inapplicable to those defendants; to avoid split litigation, multiplicity and risk of inconsistent findings the court will exercise its jurisdiction to refuse the stays and retain the entire dispute for court determination (following Jaya Sudhir, Protasco, Bina Jati and Chase Perdana).
11 Sept 2023

Allen Cheng Peng Han and Sandhya Saravanan [Messrs Azman Davidson & Co.] Foo Joon Liang and Kho Jia Yuan [Messrs Gan Partnership]

Citation

SUIT NO. WA-22C-32-05/2023 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

SUIT NO. WA-22C-32-05/2023 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Enclosure 6 (stay application) refused because the Plaintiff's claim against the Defendant is founded on an independent corporate guarantee distinct from the arbitration between Plaintiff and DCSB; parties and reliefs differ, there is no necessary overlap creating risk of inconsistent findings, and no rare or compelling circumstances exist to justify a stay; the Suit and the arbitrations may proceed concurrently.
5 Mar 2021

1. ) BA-12AC-4-06/2020 LNH LANDSCAPING SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 632053-U) 2. ) BA-12AC-11-09/2020 PAKSI TEGUH SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 246186-A) 3. ) BA-12AC-12-09/2020 LNH LANDSCAPING SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 632053-U) 1. ) T. K. H CONSTRUCTION SDN. BHD.

Citation

BA-12AC-4-06/2020, BA-12AC-11-09/2020 & BA-12AC-12-09/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

BA-12AC-4-06/2020, BA-12AC-11-09/2020 & BA-12AC-12-09/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The High Court held LNH had no contractual cause of action against Paksi because there was no privity of contract between them and Clause 27.10 of the incorporated PAM Contract precluded such privity; the Sessions Court's refusal to strike out the claim against Paksi was a legal error and was set aside (strike out allowed); because Paksi was struck out LNH's challenge to the stay as to Paksi was dismissed; separately, the stay and reference of the dispute between LNH and TKH to arbitration under s10 Arbitration Act 2005 was mandatory and LNH's appeal against that stay was dismissed.
7 Dec 2020

Tech Art Sdn Bhd Konsesi Kota Permatamas Sdn Bhd

Citation

WA-12ANCC-91-10/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

WA-12ANCC-91-10/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The High Court allowed the appeal: where there is a valid and binding arbitration agreement between the third-party defendant and the defendant, s.10 Arbitration Act 2005 mandates a stay of the third-party proceedings if the stay application is made before taking any step; the Sessions Court erred in finding Enclosure 21 was a step and in dismissing the stay on the basis of potential duplication because the stay sought was limited to the third-party proceedings and the original suit between the plaintiff and defendants could continue; accordingly the third-party proceedings were stayed and co…
6 Oct 2020

1. ) TIME RINA INTERNATIONAL LTD 2. ) TIME MARINE SERVICES SDN BHD 3. ) HAMIDON BIN MD KHAYON 4. ) PUTERI NAZRAHTUL BINTI OMAR 5. ) AZMEL HAFIZ BIN AZIZ 6. ) OMAR BIN KHALID NAM CHEONG INTERNATIONAL LTD

Citation

WA-27NCC-54-06/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

WA-27NCC-54-06/2020 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The court granted a stay as to the 1st Defendant because the Memorandum of Agreement, the Barecon Charters and the Seller's Credit Agreement unambiguously referred disputes to arbitration (in Malaysia for the MOA/Barecon and Singapore SIAC for the Seller's Credit) and s.10(1) of the Arbitration Act 2005 mandates a stay where a valid arbitration agreement exists; however the court dismissed the stay application as to Defendants 2–6 because the corporate and personal guarantees did not contain or expressly incorporate the arbitration clauses and there were no clear contractual words incorporati…
26 Jun 2018

1. APEX MARBLE SDN BHD (Company Registration No. 669745-X) 2. MCORE SDN BHD (Company Registration No. 599497-H) LEONG TAT YAN (NRIC NO. 760730-04-50870)

Citation

W-02(NCvC)(W)-202-01/2018 (Mahkamah Rayuan)
Court

NCvC
Case number

W-02(NCvC)(W)-202-01/2018 (Mahkamah Rayuan)

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's stay. It held s.10 did not apply because the defendant was not a party to the arbitration agreement and any stay against a non‑party requires rare and compelling circumstances. Further, the defendant had taken unqualified steps in the proceedings (including filing defence and counterclaim) without reserving arbitration rights and was therefore precluded from invoking s.10; the High Court erred in its exercise of discretion; appeal allowed and matter remitted to High Court.

Malaysia Case Law

1. ) KHONG YOON LOONG 2. ) AGNES LEE LAI HENG 3. ) NG CHEE SIEW 4. ) IRENE HARTANTO @ TAN HIAN LIE 5. ) CHAN YIK LONG 6. ) HO YEE KARM 7. ) LIU KWAI LIEN 8. ) KONG CHOONG HON 9. ) LIM KA TIN 10. ) JAMAL MOHAMED PADIYATH 11. ) FOONG KIM SEON

Allen Cheng Peng Han and Sandhya Saravanan [Messrs Azman Davidson & Co.] Foo Joon Liang and Kho Jia Yuan [Messrs Gan Partnership]

1. ) BA-12AC-4-06/2020 LNH LANDSCAPING SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 632053-U) 2. ) BA-12AC-11-09/2020 PAKSI TEGUH SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 246186-A) 3. ) BA-12AC-12-09/2020 LNH LANDSCAPING SDN. BHD. (Co. No.: 632053-U) 1. ) T. K. H CONSTRUCTION SDN. BHD.

Tech Art Sdn Bhd Konsesi Kota Permatamas Sdn Bhd

1. ) TIME RINA INTERNATIONAL LTD 2. ) TIME MARINE SERVICES SDN BHD 3. ) HAMIDON BIN MD KHAYON 4. ) PUTERI NAZRAHTUL BINTI OMAR 5. ) AZMEL HAFIZ BIN AZIZ 6. ) OMAR BIN KHALID NAM CHEONG INTERNATIONAL LTD

1. APEX MARBLE SDN BHD (Company Registration No. 669745-X) 2. MCORE SDN BHD (Company Registration No. 599497-H) LEONG TAT YAN (NRIC NO. 760730-04-50870)