Contracts Act: Review Committee Given 18 Months To Conduct Comprehensive Study
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- The committee tasked with conducting a review of the Contracts Act 1950 (Act 136) has been given 18 months to conduct a comprehensive review and study on the Act.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the period began from the date of the first committee meeting on Jan 14 and that the study will be implemented in three phases - an assessment of current laws and comparative analysis, modernisation and suggested improvements, compiling, recommendations and legal draft.
“Three suggestions will be considered by the committee to fix Act 136. First, amendments to the Act by updating it to tackle gaps and outdated provisions.
“Second, abolishing Act 136 and replacing it with a new and more comprehensive law toward modernising and unifying contract law principles, and third, amending Act 136 and introducing new legislation to tackle current issues in certain fields,” she said during a minister’s briefing on the matter during a Dewan Rakyat Special Chambers session today.
She pointed out that Act 136 had been the basis for commercial law in Malaysia for over seven decades and has undergone three amendments, the last being 49 years ago.
Due to those factors, she said that Act 136 could be considered an outdated law that is unable to tackle issues such as digital transactions, economic pressures, modern-day business models, international trade and contractual disputes, causing too much dependence on judicial interpretation.
“Therefore, updating contract law is currently one of the MADANI government’s commitments in institutional reform.
“It is to improve laws relating to commercial fields to ensure it is more relevant to current developments and situations in line with developments on the international level and to ensure that the commercial legal sector in Malaysia continues to be dynamic with changing times,” Azalina added.
-- BERNAMA
