KUALA LUMPUR: The Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2024, which aims to enhance Malaysia’s standing amongst the international arbitration community by improving the organisational structure of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The bill, which seeks to amend the Arbitration Act 2005 (Act 646), was tabled by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
According to the bill uploaded on the Parliament’s website, amendments to Act 646 were in line with the execution of the Supplementary Agreement between the Government of Malaysia and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation relating to the AIAC in Kuala Lumpur.
It also proposes several new sections related to third-party funding, including Section 46c, which seeks to provide that the rule of common law against maintenance and champerty shall cease to apply in relation to the third-party funding of arbitration and that a third-party funding agreement shall not be treated as contrary to public policy on the grounds of maintenance and champerty.
“With this provision, third-party funding of arbitration and court proceedings in respect of an arbitration shall no longer be prohibited in Malaysia,” according to the bill.
Meanwhile, Azalina also tabled the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication (Amendment) Bill 2024 for its first reading, which seeks to provide for the name change of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration to AIAC.
