KUALA LUMPUR: A Paris court has upheld the Malaysian government’s challenge against enforcing a partial award to the heirs of a former sultan who won US$15 billion in an arbitration over a colonial-era land deal, Malaysia said late on Tuesday (Jun 7).
The win for Malaysia implies the final award will be annulled and the descendants’ efforts to seize Malaysian assets will end, the government said.
“This decision, which is final and binding, is a decisive victory for Malaysia in its ongoing pursuit of legal remedies, which Malaysia is confident will result in comprehensive defeat for the claimants and their funders,” said Law Minister Azalina Othman Said.
The claimants said they would consider their options before the French Supreme Court.
The Filipino heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu won a US$14.9-billion award in a French arbitration court last year in a long-running dispute over the deal after a partial award was first issued in May 2020.
The Paris Court of Appeal found the case arbitrator had wrongly upheld his jurisdiction, Malaysia said on Tuesday.
Malaysia, which did not participate in the arbitration, maintains the process is illegal and has vowed to use all legal measures to prevent seizure. It obtained a stay on the award in France but the ruling remains enforceable overseas under a United Nations treaty on arbitration.