Amendments to the Courts of Judicature Act 2022 precluding right of appeal in certain circumstances

28 October 2022

On 1 October 2022, the Courts of Judicature (Amendment) Act 2022 (“Amendment Act”) came into effect. The Amendment Act amends the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to limit the right to appeal to the High Court, the Court of Appeal in civil cases, and to allow delivery of notices to an advocate’s electronic address in criminal cases.

Under the Amendment Act, an appeal will no longer be allowed if:

• a subordinate court has dismissed an application for a summary judgment or application to strike out any writ or pleading, or allowed an application to set aside a judgment in default.
• a High Court has dismissed an application for a summary judgment or application to strike out any writ or pleading, or allowed an application to set aside a judgment in default.

The amendments in relation to criminal appeals are as follows:

• Allowing service of notices of documents connected with a criminal appeal to an electronic address instead of a postal address of the appellant or the appellant’s solicitors.
• Reducing the number of copies of petition of appeal to be served by the appellant to the Court of Appeal from five copies to one copy.

Reference materials

The following materials are available from the Attorney-General’s Chambers website www.lom.agc.gov.my.