Constructive Trusts and Limitation Periods in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia, as a former British colony, has inherited much of its trusts law from the English. This gives rise to an interesting interaction between the two sets of laws in the modern day. On the one hand, English case law remains highly persuasive post-independence; after all, the applicability of English law was preserved by section 3(1) of the Civil Law Act 1956, which (subject to qualifications irrelevant for present purposes) provides that ‘the common law of England and the rules of equity’ apply in Malaysia. On the other hand, the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1983 abolished civil appeals to the Privy Council, and this means that decisions of higher local courts bind lower local courts. ..