Powers of the Court in the Malaysian Arbitration Act

Abstract This chapter examines the general powers of the High Court in the Malaysian Arbitration Act to ascertain similarities and differences that exist between the UNCITRAL Model Law of 1985 and the Arbitration Act of Malaysia of 1952 9“the Act”), respectively. It also investigates some of the linguistic features found in the relevant sections of the Act. The chapter includes references to related cases to illustrate the judicial interpretation of the language in the Act in the different sections involving powers of the High Court and the implications of the language used. The analysis reveals the extent of the general powers of the High Court and the important role of language in the Act. The influence of the High Court was seen to be detrimental to foreign parties and this led to an amendment in the Act in 1980, with the insertion of section 34.