MALAYSIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rabindra S. Nathan, Rodney Gomez, K. Shanti Mogan and Alexius Lee, Shearn Delamore & Co
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
vices, including hearing rooms, administrative support and a panel list of arbitrators, mediators and other adjudicators. AIAC’s Initiatives The AIAC maintains its own rules of arbitration, known as the AIAC Arbitration Rules. The AIAC takes the ini - tiative to actively upgrade the AIAC Arbitration Rules from time to time in accordance with international trends to cater for best practices in the global envi - ronment. The AIAC also released the AIAC i-Arbitration Rules, which offer a practical solution for the settling of disputes arising out of or in connection with Sharia- based commercial transactions, enabling the arbitral tribunal to refer to the relevant Sharia Advisory Coun - cil or Sharia expert for opinions on matters related to Sharia principles. The AIAC regularly updates its i-Arbitration rules, with the latest update being the AIAC i-Arbitration Rules 2023, which took effect from 24 August 2023. The AIAC released its inaugural Asian Sports Arbitra - tion Rules 2023, which took effect from 6 October 2023. The Asian Sport Arbitration Rules aim to cater to the needs of the sports industry and provide an effec - tive and efficient mechanism for resolution of sports- related disputes. The Asian Sport Arbitration Rules contain two procedures: the general rules applicable to any matter related to sport and the special proce - dure for resolution in disputes relating to selection and eligibility misunderstandings. 1.4 National Courts The High Courts of Malaysia are designated to hear disputes related to international arbitration and domestic arbitrations for matters where they have jurisdiction under the Arbitration Act 2005. There are designated arbitration specialist courts that deal with arbitration-related matters arising typically from con - struction and commercial-related arbitration disputes.
The Arbitration Act 2005 (“AA 2005”) governs interna - tional arbitration in Malaysia. Parts I, II and IV of the AA 2005, comprising Sections 1 to 5, Sections 6 to 39 and Sections 47 to 51, are of mandatory application in respect of international arbitration. Part III of the AA 2005, comprising Sections 40 to 46, do not apply to international arbitrations unless the parties agree to opt in, in writing. Comparison with UNCITRAL Model Law The AA 2005 is based closely on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Part II of the AA 2005 – containing Sections 6 to 39 governing general provisions and provisions relat - ing to arbitration agreements, the composition of arbi - trators, the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, conduct of arbitral proceedings, the making of awards and ter - mination of proceedings, recourse against awards and the recognition and enforcement of awards – closely mirrors the subject headings and sequence of Articles 3 to 36 of the UNCITRAL Model Law. In the context of international arbitration, there are no significant differences between the AA 2005 and the UNCITRAL Model Law. However, specific powers are provided to arbitrators in several sections of the AA 2005 which are not found in the UNCITRAL Model Law. For instance, the AA 2005 empowers the arbitral tribu - nal to grant security for costs as an interim measure (see Section 19E of the AA 2005) and to give direc - tions for the speedy determination of a claim if the claimant fails to proceed with the claim (see Section 27 (d) of the AA 2005). The AA 2005 also provides for specific powers of the arbitral tribunal in conducting the arbitration, which includes drawing on its own knowledge and expertise, making orders for the provision of further particulars, the granting of security for costs, fixing and amending time limits within which various steps in arbitral pro - ceedings must be completed, ordering the discovery and production of documents or material within the possession or power of a party, ordering interrogato - ries to be answered, and ordering that any evidence
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