RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS ACT 1958

Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 99 RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS ACT 1958 Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 IN COLLABORATION WITH PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD 2006 1 2 RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS ACT 1958 First enacted Revised ... ... ... ... ... ... 1958 (Ordinance No. 65 of 1958) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1972 (Act 99 w.e.f. 15 December 1972) PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint ... Second Reprint ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1994 2000 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 99 RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS ACT 1958 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title 2. Interpretation PART II REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS FROM RECIPROCATING COUNTRIES 3. Part II to extend to reciprocating countries 4. Application for and effect of registration of judgment 5. Cases in which registered judgments must, or may, be set aside 6. Powers of registering court on application to set aside registration 7. Judgments which can be registered not to be enforceable otherwise PART III MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL 8. General effect of certain judgments 9. Power to make judgments unenforceable in Malaysia if no reciprocity 10. Issue of certificates of judgments obtained in Malaysia 11. Rules of court 12. Repeal and saving FIRST SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 99 Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments 5 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 99 RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS ACT 1958 An Act for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments of superior courts. [Peninsular Malaysia—1 January 1959, Ord. 65 of 1958; Sabah and Sarawak—1 December 1972, P.U. (A) 297/1972] PART I PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1958. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “action in personam” shall not be deemed to include any matrimonial cause or any proceedings in connection with any matrimonial matters, administration of the estates of deceased persons, bankruptcy, winding up of companies, lunacy or guardianship of infants; “appeal” includes any proceeding by way of discharging or setting aside a judgment or an application for a new trial or a stay of execution; “country of the original court” means the reciprocating country in which the original court is situated; “judgment” means a judgment or order given or made by a court in any civil proceedings, or a judgment or order given or made by a court in any criminal proceedings for the payment of a sum of money in respect of compensation or damages to an injured party, and, except in relation to a country or territory outside the Commonwealth, 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 99 includes an award in proceedings in an arbitration if the award has, pursuant to the law in force in the place where it was made, become enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a court in that place; and a judgment given in any court on appeal from a judgment given in the High Court shall be deemed to be a judgment given in the High Court; “judgment creditor” means the person in whose favour the judgment was given and includes any person in whom the rights under the judgment have become vested by succession or assignment or otherwise; “judgment debtor” means the person against whom the judgment was given, and includes any person against whom the judgment is enforceable under the law of the original court; “original court” in relation to any judgment means the court by which the judgment was given; “prescribed” means prescribed by rules of court; “reciprocating country” means any country or territory including the United Kingdom to which this Act for the time being applies and which is specified in the First Schedule; “registration” means registration under Part II, and the expressions “register” and “registered” shall be construed accordingly; “registering court” in relation to any judgment means the court to which an application to register the judgment is made; “superior courts” means the courts of a reciprocating country so described in the First Schedule. PART II REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS FROM RECIPROCATING COUNTRIES Part II to extend to reciprocating countries 3. (1) This Part shall extend to judgments given in the superior courts of reciprocating countries. Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments 7 (2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, if he is satisfied that in the event of the benefits conferred by this Part being extended to judgments given in the superior courts of any country or territory outside Malaysia, substantial reciprocity of treatment will be assured as respects the enforcement in that country or territory of judgments given in the High Court, by order extend this Part to that country or territory and may, by the same or a different order, amend the First Schedule to add that country or territory thereto and specify what courts of that country or territory shall be deemed to be superior courts for the purposes of this Part. (3) Any judgment of a superior court, other than a judgment of such a court given on appeal from a court which is not a superior court, shall be a judgment to which this Part applies, if— (a) it is final and conclusive as between parties thereto; (b) there is payable thereunder a sum of money, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty; and (c) being a judgment from a country or territory added to the First Schedule pursuant to subsection (2), it is given after that country or territory is added to that Schedule. (4) For the purposes of this section, a judgment shall be deemed to be final and conclusive notwithstanding that an appeal may be pending against it, or that it may still be subject to appeal, in the courts of the country of the original court. Application for and effect of registration of judgment 4. (1) A person, being a judgment creditor under a judgment to which this Part applies, may apply to the High Court at any time within six years after the date of the judgment, or, where there have been proceedings by way of appeal against the judgment, after the date of the last judgment given in those proceedings, to have the judgment registered in the High Court, and on any such application the court shall, subject to proof of the prescribed matters and to the other provisions of this Act, order the judgment to be registered: Provided that a judgment shall not be registered if at the date of the application— (a) it has been wholly satisfied; or (b) it could not be enforced by execution in the country of the original court. 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 99 (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to the setting aside of registration— (a) a registered judgment shall, for the purposes of execution, be of the same force and effect; (b) proceedings may be taken on a registered judgment; (c) the sum for which a judgment is registered shall carry interest; and (d) the registering court shall have the same control over the execution of a registered judgment; as if the judgment had been a judgment originally given in the registering court and entered on the date of registration: Provided that execution shall not issue on the judgment so long as, under this Part and the rules of court made for the purposes thereof, it is competent for any party to make an application to have the registration of the judgment set aside, or, where such an application is made, until after the application has been finally determined. (3) Where the sum payable under a judgment which is to be registered is expressed in a currency other than Malaysian currency, the judgment shall be registered as if it were a judgment for such sum in Malaysian currency as, on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of the judgment of the original court, is equivalent to the sum so payable. (4) If at the date of the application for registration the judgment of the original court has been partly satisfied, the judgment shall not be registered in respect of the whole sum payable under the judgment of the original court, but only in respect of the balance remaining payable at that date. (5) If, on an application for the registration of a judgment, it appears to the registering court that the judgment is in respect of different matters and that some, but not all, of the provisions of the judgment are such that if those provisions had been contained in separate judgments those judgments could properly have been registered, the judgment may be registered in respect of the provisions aforesaid but not in respect of any other provisions contained therein. Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments 9 (6) In addition to the sum of money payable under the judgment of the original court, including any interest which by the law of the country of the original court becomes due under the judgment up to the time of registration, the judgment shall be registered for the reasonable costs of and incidental to registration, including the costs of obtaining a certified copy of the judgment from the original court. Cases in which registered judgments must, or may, be set aside 5. (1) On an application in that behalf duly made by any party against whom a registered judgment may be enforced, the registration of the judgment— (a) shall be set aside if the registering court is satisfied— (i) that the judgment is not a judgment to which this Part applies or was registered in contravention of this Act; (ii) that the courts of the country of the original court had no jurisdiction in the circumstances of the case; (iii) that the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings in the original court, did not (notwithstanding that process may have been duly served on him in accordance with the law of the country of the original court) receive notice of those proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to defend the proceedings and did not appear; (iv) that the judgment was obtained by fraud; (v) that the enforcement of the judgment would be contrary to public policy in Malaysia; or (vi) that the rights under the judgment are not vested in the person by whom the application for registration was made; and (b) may be set aside if the registering court is satisfied that the matter in dispute in the proceedings in the original court had previously to the date of the judgment in the original court been the subject of a final and conclusive judgment by a court having jurisdiction in the matter. 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 99 (2) For the purposes of this section the courts of the country of the original court shall, subject to subsection (3), be deemed to have had jurisdiction— (a) in the case of a judgment given in an action in personam— (i) if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, submitted to the jurisdiction of that court by voluntarily appearing in the proceedings otherwise than for the purpose of protecting, or obtaining the release of, property seized, or threatened with seizure, in the proceedings or of contesting the jurisdiction of that court; (ii) if the judgment debtor was plaintiff in, or counterclaimed in, the proceedings in the original court; (iii) if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, had before the commencement of the proceedings agreed, in respect of the subject matter of the proceedings to submit to the jurisdiction of that court or of the courts of the country of that court; (iv) if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, was at the time when the proceedings were instituted resident in, or being a body corporate had its principal place of business in, the country of that court; or (v) if the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the original court, had an office or place of business in the country of that court