Rejection Of Judgment In Defaults

Dear Members of the Kuala Lumpur Bar,

The CPCLC has received feedback from members indicating that there have been several instances in which Judgment In Defaults (“JID”) that have been filed were rejected and/or varied on the basis that the same provided a contractual interest rate and interest accrual period, rather than the standard post-judgment interest rate of 5%.

We have liaised with the Court, which has informed us that, even though the Plaintiff may have pleaded for contractual interest in its Statement of Claim, the Court retains discretion over whether to allow the claim as pleaded or to amend it in accordance with Order 42 Rule 12 of the Rules of Court 2012 and the Chief Justice’s Practice Direction No. 1/2012. Therefore, the Court must first be satisfied of the existence of the pleaded contractual interest rate and/or period before granting the same, to avoid any wrongful exercise of discretion on their part.

Sufficient material relating to the pleaded contractual interest (including but not limited to the relevant agreement, contract, invoice or document) ought to be placed before the Court for consideration via affidavit, to be filed together with the draft JID.

Alvin Oh Seong Yew
Chairman
Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee

Nimalan Devaraja
Shugan Raman
S. Saravana Kumar
Co-chairpersons
Civil Practice & Court Liaison Committee