A Creditor’s Guide To Committal Proceedings In Malaysia
- Rule & Co Editorial Team
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
If a judgment debtor defies a court order, committal proceedings under Order 52 of the Rules of Court 2012 can be used to find them in contempt as a final attempt to force compliance.
Specifically, if found in contempt, the court may issue an order to imprison the contemnor (the person found in contempt) for up to six weeks if they do not comply.
For parties in Malaysia considering committal to enforce court-ordered payments, our guide below covers:
common debtor actions that can constitute contempt
special rules when the contemnor is a company
the main steps in a committal proceeding
when committal is actually effective in debt recovery, and
our professional observations at the end
Alternatively, skip the reading and get in touch for a free recovery assessment.
Otherwise, let’s begin.
What can constitute contempt
Besides outright defaulting on a court-ordered payment, the Rules of Court 2012 lists several other acts of defiance that can amount to contempt under Order 52, including:
disobeying a court order (including failing to attend a judgement debtor summons)
disobeying an injunction (such as a prohibitory order)
refusing to vacate land or hand over specific property
breaching a child or spousal support order, or
a director or officer causing or allowing a company to disobey a court order
Additionally, it must be established that the judgement debtor willfully chose to commit these acts in spite of the ability to comply.
Case in point, the article cited below.
Here, the father claimed his salary of RM2,800 made him unable to pay RM2,000 for child support…then it was discovered he was spending over RM13,000 every month!
As a result, the court found him in contempt and ordered him to pay the full RM266,825 of unpaid child maintenance within three months.
If these elements can be proven, committal proceedings may be initiated.
Procedure overview
The committal process generally involves three main stages:
Ex-parte court application for permission to apply for committal order
The actual committal order application and service
Hearing and enforcement of committal order
From start to finish, expect the process to take several months, though it can take longer depending on court scheduling, service requirements, and whether objections arise.
Stage 1: Ex-parte application for leave
The goal at this stage is to persuade the court there is sufficient proof an act of contempt has been committed to file a notice of application for committal (known as a substantive application) against the judgement debtor and request a hearing.
This is done via an ex-parte application (made without notifying judgment debtor) for leave supported by a statement and affidavit outlining grounds for committal.
At this stage, we will:
establish the judgment debtor breached the court order willfully
document all supporting evidence, and
draft and file the application for leave together with statement and affidavit with the court
Once permission is granted, we have 14 days to file the substantive committal application.
Stage 2: Filing and serving substantive committal application
The substantive application for committal must be filed with the court and personally served on the judgment debtor with at least eight days between the date of service and hearing (sample below).
At this stage, we will:
discuss an ideal date to set for the hearing with you
prepare and file the committal application and supporting affidavit
arrange for personal service on the judgment debtor / company officers, and
if they attempt to evade service, apply for a substituted service or dispensatio
After service, the matter is ready to be heard in court.
Stage 3: Hearing and enforcement of the committal order
The hearing is held, the judgment debtor may appear and present a defence, and if the court finds contempt, it may issue a committal order.
At this stage, we will:
attend and monitor the court hearing on behalf of the creditor, and
advise you on likely outcomes and next steps
Upon the order being issued, we shall proceed with committal of the judgment debtor.
What happens after a committal order is issued
The court will now give the judgment debtor (or company officer) a specific timeframe to comply with the original court order, failing which it may impose a fixed term of imprisonment.
The length of imprisonment is at the court’s discretion, and where a judgment debtor summons was ignored, can be up to six weeks (under Section 4 of the Debtors Act 1957).
A committal can end once the debtor remedies the breach, namely by:
the Sheriff or bailiff seizing specific property, or
paying the amount stated in the committal order / the entire judgment debt
However, committal itself does not discharge the debt, and in theory, if they continue to defy the court order, we could petition to have them committed again, and again, and…you get the idea🙂
When to use a committal application
Committal proceedings target the debtor personally, not their assets, and the goal is to use the threat of detention to compel compliance, much like the threat of grounding gets children to eat their greens.
For this reason, it is most effective when:
the debtor can comply with a court-ordered payment but simply refuses to do so
other enforcement methods have failed, or
a judgement debtor continues to defy a court order
Finally, assuming we begin with a judgment debtor summons, a committal order thereafter can inflict the maximum six weeks detention period.
Alternative judgement debt enforcement methods
Various enforcement methods would work better based on our findings.
Finding | Recommended enforcement method |
Debtor has bank accounts or cash | |
Debtor has movable assets (vehicles, equipment) | Writ of seizure and sale, charging order |
Company has a signed personal guarantee from directors | |
Debtor insolvent or a company unable to pay debts | Bankruptcy (for individuals) / Compulsory winding-up (for companies) |
And of course, if the debtor is willing, we always encourage out-of-court settlements.
Our thoughts
Committal proceedings are a powerful tool of last resort, but only when the debtor has the means to pay but chooses not to. If a debtor truly cannot pay, imprisoning them gets us nowhere closer to recovering the outstanding amount, and at any rate the courts are unlikely to do so.
We generally recommend starting with asset-based remedies, escalating to a judgment debtor summons, and wherever possible, an out-of-court settlement should always remain on the table.
That’s it from us, and we wish you a smooth debt recovery 🙂
Let Rule & Co handle your debt recovery
If you’ve sent reminders and been ignored or simply don’t want the hassle of chasing payments, Rule & Co is a debt recovery law firm that focuses on helping creditors recover debts via legal strategies that minimise upfront cost, maximise recovery, and protect your reputation.
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