A Creditor’s Guide To Default Judgements In Malaysia
- Rule & Co Editorial Team
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
For creditors in Malaysia initiating a civil suit, default judgements under Orders 13 or 19 of the Rules of Court 2012 effectively grant a court order in their favour at the pre-trial stage.
This allows rapid access to debt enforcement methods - potentially in months instead of years.
In fact, we’d like to start by sharing a most satisfying case of ours, in which a default judgement led to swift and full recovery against a debtor who both had the means to pay and had been given ample opportunity - yet simply did not want to.
Upon realising their bank account had been garnished, the debtor sent us an angry text to which we replied expressing our sincere gratitude 😀
To creditors already fantasising a similar victory, read on as we explain the essentials of default judgements in Malaysia, broken down into:
how a typical pre-trial stage goes
how default of appearance and pleadings are triggered
final vs interlocutory default judgements, and
our professional thoughts
Of course, feel free to skip the guide and get in touch for a free recovery assessment.
Otherwise, let’s begin.
Typical pre-trial stage of a civil suit
The case starts as the creditor’s solicitor files a writ of summons with the court detailing the nature of the debt and the claim sought.
The writ is then served on the defendant, who has 14 days to file a Memorandum of Appearance to show they wish to dispute the claim.
A back and forth of written submissions to the court begins, and at minimum includes:
the plaintiff’s Statement of Claim (within 14 days of the Appearance), and
the defendant’s Defence (within 14 days of the Statement)
Everyone then attends a Pre-Trial Case Management session where the court gives directions for the case to proceed to trial.
Default of appearance (Order 13)
This happens when the debtor fails to file a Memorandum of Appearance within the 14 days of being served with a writ of summons.
We now file an affidavit of service and produce a Certificate of Non-Appearance to request a default judgement.
Default of Pleadings (Order 19)
This occurs if the debtor enters an appearance but fails to file a Defence within 14 days of the plaintiff’s Statement of Claim - turning up for the fight but failing to throw a counter punch.
In this case, only an affidavit of service needs to be filed to request a default judgement.
Final vs interlocutory default judgements
A final judgement in default can be served on the debtor immediately while an interlocutory judgement requires a subsequent hearing for the court to decide on the figure to award.
Which one a creditor is granted depends on the nature of the claim sought:
liquidated damages (specific sum of money) ➡ final judgement
unliquidated damages (undetermined figure) ➡ interlocutory judgement
in detinue (detention of movable property) ➡ interlocutory judgement
mixed (specific sum of money and undetermined figure) ➡ both
Once the judgement is served on the debtor, they are given 30 days to attempt to have it set aside before it becomes a fully enforceable court order.
Our professional thoughts
When something hinges on a debtor not even trying to defend themselves, it could be that they simply don’t have anything worth defending!
For this reason, we would never advise going to court only because a default judgment is likely.
Always prepare for a full trial, which means first determining the debt amount is recoverable and worth the expense, namely:
the debt is over RM100,000
the debtor has the means to pay, and
they have no legally sound defence
In our case at the start, the debtor had breached an agreement to the tune of several hundred thousand Ringgit, was driving luxury vehicles, and lived in a very affluent neighbourhood - it ticked all the boxes of a solid case, and we were prepared to go the distance.
Them failing to enter an appearance was an unexpected but welcome development we used to fast-track a victory we believe we would have gotten regardless.
That’s all from us, and we wish you a smooth debt recovery 🙂
Let Rule & Co handle your debt litigation
If your reminders have been ignored or you simply don’t want the hassle of chasing debtors, Rule & Co is a debt recovery law firm that helps creditors recover debts via legal strategies that minimise upfront cost, maximise recovery, and safeguard your reputation.
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