Judicial Resolution of Cases in Small Scale Financial Claims: The Malaysian Experience

Abstract

This paper presents the assessment of the Malaysian experience on the implementation of the Small Claims Procedures. This covers the magistrate courts of Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam and Johor Bharu as the major cities of Malaysia. Small Claims Procedure plaintiff is an individual person who is not an agent or assignee of any debt of another person.  (Order 93, Rules of Court 2012 r. 1.2).   The money involved in cases without intervention of a solicitor or advocate is less than RM 5,000.00 (USD 1,168.91). Order 93, Rules of Court 2012 refined mechanism is in its 32 years in implementation since 1980 it was first adopted.  The major challenge is information dissemination. The Malaysian’s Small Claim Procedures implements warrant of arrest and imprisons the defendant for failure to comply court order. The beneficiaries are individual persons instead of lending corporations.