litigation infographic (1)

Introduction to Court Litigation Generally, court litigation brings the meaning of a proceedings brought up to the court. An action between both parties between the plaintiff (person who brings up the case) & the defendant (person who the plaintiff is against). This then led to a lawsuit that shall be resided in the court by a judge by interpreting the previous cases which are a binding precedent alongside a set of guidelines of the law. However, there are mainly two types of litigation namely, the civil court litigation and the criminal court litigation. Civil Litigation is a form of dispute settlement, which is in accordance to the law to be resolve in the court. It covers areas that falls under a civil legal proceedings. As compared to criminal litigation, it can be seen those are two different areas of the law, as the legal process must be in the essence of a criminal dispute. Despite being subjected to the law, both are different in nature. In a civil litigation, in order for the civil attorneys to have a stronger case the evidence that are presented must be more persuasive or potent. As compared to a criminal litigation, mere evidence does not suffice however, the burden of proof must prevail a case that is beyond the reasonable doubt. A great amount of evidence is needed to be provided by the solicitors of both parties to the suit in order for the court to give its final judgement. HIERARCHY OF COURT IN MALAYSIA Each of the courts has different jurisdiction. A session court will hear a case which does not exceed RM 1,000,000 for its amount of dispute. The cases may vary from motor vehicle accidents, land matters and etc. The High Court will hear the cases which the Subordinate courts has no jurisdiction. The amount of claim exceeds in RM1,000,000. The resided cases could be from matrimonial cases, bankruptcy and etc. TYPES OF CIVIL & CRIMINAL LITIGATIONS Basically, there are numerous types of Civil Litigation that could be listed. Some of them could found being listed below alongside relevant cases, as an illustration: PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM OR TORTIOUS ACT ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Arab Malaysia Finance Bhd v Steven Phoa Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Alam Sekitar and Cheng Loon & Ors Case facts: Regarding the negligence claim Anor v Kajing Tubek and Ors and other of the developer of the famous Highland Appeals tower for their negligence to maintain a proper building infrastructure. Case facts: Concerning the building of the Bakun Dam. MATRIMONIAL CASES/ FAMILY LAW CASES Khoo Kay Peng v Pauline Chai Siew Phin COPYRIGHT ISSUES Case facts: issues of domicile were Dunia Muzik WEA Sdn. Bhd & Anor v raised. Koh Tay Eng INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES LITIGATIONS Case facts: Issues of copyright Y-Teq Auto Parts (M) Sdn Bhd v X1R Global concerning the sale of an unlicensed cassettes containing musical works and Holding Sdn Bhd & Anor Case facts: A dispute of a registered sound recordings. proprietor of a lubricant goods in class 4 & a registered proprietor of motorcycle spare CRIMINAL CASE parts concerning class 7, 9, 12, 25, and 35. PP v Alma Nudo Atenza Case facts: This case concerns the drug offence cases that has been a landmark case in Malaysia. LAW & REGULATIONS OF COURT LITIGATIONS Originally, the Rules of High Court 1980 and the Rules of Subordinate Court 1980 was referred for its enforcement procedures. Subsequently, the Rules of Courts 2012 was introduced which came into operation on 1st August 2012. Alongside the Criminal Procedural Code & Penal Code to be referred in criminal cases. Other related legislation: Debtors’s Act 1967, Distress Act 1951, Specific Relief Act 1950, and etc.

Litigation Process in Malaysia STARTING A CASE Two ways of commencing a civil claim (both valid for 6 months beginning from the date of its issue) Writ Originating summons FILING A CLAIM DEFENDING A CLAIM 1.Plaintiff can file a claim at the Court 1.Defendant must enter Memorandum Registry depending on location. of Appearance under Form 2 within 14 days (failure to do so would cause the 2.He or she needs to extract a sealed Plaintiff to obtain a judgment of copy of the same and serve the Court default of appearance against the papers to the Defendant within 6 Defendant) months 2.Defendant needs to file his/her defence within 14 days which must contain only facts (failure to do so would cause the Plaintiff to obtain a judgment of default of defence against the Defendant) 3.Defendant may also file his or her counter claim (if any) against the Plaintiff TRIAL BEFORE TRIAL BEGINS: ON THE HEARING DATE: PRE-TRIAL CASE MANAGEMENT TRIAL PROCEDURE (PTCM) On the hearing date: Trial Procedure 1.Court will inquire on the issues, 1.Plaintiff will start first, may call documents and witnesses of the case witnesses or testify him/herself, must also produce documents to identify 2.Court will then give direction as to what (they can be cross examined by the documents are needed to be filed in Defendant) Court together with the timelines for all the filings 2.After the Plaintiff have called all witnesses, the Defendant will start his 3.Failure to comply with the directions case (repeat the same process above) may result on the dismissal of the claim 3.Submission can be done by way of oral FILING OF JUDGMENT or written at the end of the case: 1.Successful party have to file a draft Reply by the plaintiff. judgment/order of the Court according Defendant’s submission ; and to Form 75 Rules of Court 2012 Plaintiff’s submission ; followed by Decision of the Judge/ Magistrate. 2.Tile the fair copy of the draft The judgment is the decision of the judgment/order Court at the conclusion of the trial. The Court may either allow or 3.Serve it to the losing party dismiss your claim. Costs – usually the losing party will IF DISAGREE WITH THE DECISION have to pay the cost of the OF THE JUDGE successful party. May appeal against the decision (must be filed within 14 days after it is pronounced) POST-TRIAL Upon receiving the judgment, the opposing party must obey the terms ordered against him/her by the Court. If the opposing party fails or refuses to comply with the order, our legal system provides several types of enforcement procedures.

ADVANTAGES OF COURT LITIGATION APPEAL Appeal is done depending on certain circumstances. The benefit of appeal is that if any parties found errors in previous trial, there are chances that the errors occurred can be corrected. The losing party in original trial may experience a better outcome however not guaranteed. In addition to this, a punishment imposed on losing party can be lessened upon the appeal. PUBLIC RECORD Although some cases are to be considered as private and confidential, the importance of public record is that any court case may educate the public on liability, accountability, rights and relevant laws. Every person is not excluded from gaining knowledge on legal matters despite of not equipped with legal background. On top of that, public record may allow the medias to access the trial information such as the parties involved, cause of action and court’s decision. It is also essential for law students to refer to the judicial precedent of previous trials. EVIDENCE Evidence used in litigation must follow the law of evidence provided. Judge will not simply allow an evidence to be placed before the court which shows strict rule of evidence is applied in court cases. Therefore, relevant evidence may help the parties to support the case. It is also essential to acquire evidence for the purpose of assisting a judge to reach a fair decision. VALUE OF PRECEDENT Precedent has a greater value in litigation whereby past verdicts are often used in court cases to arrive a decision. This helps the present dispute to be settled in shorter time. Moreover, judicial precedent are able to strengthen the argument of parties. Therefore, it is useful for the lawyers to find the loopholes in the case. GUARANTEED RESULT The benefit of litigation is that the result is guaranteed. Every dispute will be resolved although it takes longer time to reach a decision. Most of the time, the decisions made by the judge are conclusive and fair to both parties. On top of that, the decisions are based on findings of the court and evidences presented before the Court.

DISADVANTAGES OF COURT LITIGATION T· IME CONSUMING The process may be intricate. In order to start a trial, there are prior steps and stages needed to be performed and it may consume lots of time. Court litigation also might take several years could be taken up for a case to be decided. In case of appeals, any permitted appeals may also be time consuming. C· OSTLY Due to the complication of the pre-trial stages, it normally requires a lot of works which is why the lawyers in charge would price their services at high amount. The expenses may also increase depending on the period of time taken for the stages which is usually long and uncertain. I·NCOMPETENT IN TECHNICAL ISSUES The problem occurred might involve other fields such as physics, accounting, engineering and economics. The knowledge of certain subject matters may not be in the expertise of the judges and juries. Other than that, lack of experience may also cause incompetency. Decisions may also be made unfairly and wrongly. CONTRIBUTE DAMAGES TO RELATIONSHIPS ·Court litigation might cause damages to relationships which contributed by the intensity between the parties. There is high possibility that the parties will create a hostile surrounding. The damage may get worsen if appeal is made. M· AY CONTRIBUTE TO UNFAIRNESS Court litigation sometimes might bring more favor on the wealthier party. This may be due to the nature of court litigation where the arguments by the lawyer carry a huge chance of winning despite of finding solution to the exact issues. In order to win, a good lawyer shall be hired as they may provide excellent legal services and thus, it consumes a high fee.

ANALYSIS A proper judgement is vital for everyone. One judgement can change the whole situation and change the life of a person. The proper process in court litigation brings more significant impact in this legal world even has been criticized in some parts, it still holds the reasons why every party in the disputes should go for court litigation. We have analyzed the pros and cons of the court litigation and we agree that Court Litigation could bring 1001 benefits to the public and more effective to be used by all. We believe that the advantages listed for the court litigation could conceal the defects in it. Below are some points made:- 1 There is no purpose to pay less money and take short time in settling the dispute but still end up having to proceed with litigation and trial before a judge. Jurisdiction of the court litigation covers everything in which there is nolimit amount of money in the jurisdiction. The parties can go from the lower to the higher court, They have the right to appeal in higher court when the parties found errors in the previous trial. The erroneous can be corrected and give a better outcome to the parties who appeal to the higher court. It would bring injustice to the parties who used arbitration in settling the disputes where the decisions are final and they may have limited bargaining power. From here, it can be said that court litigation brings more justice to the parties in the dispute. 2 The results from the court litigation are guaranteed. It would not leave the parties hanging without concrete results, there will be clear results to every dispute. The most prominent part where the Judge issuing the decision with a written opinion or explanatory statement that can be reviewed by the public. The court will follow past verdicts that make the result more solid and leave no room for biasness. 3 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) still require most likely same cost-implications. The point that stated court litigation requires higher cost can be rebutted when other ways to settle the dispute such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) still require most likely same cost- implications such as arbitrator's fees and even a venue to conduct the service. It is not worthy to spend on something which is not even binding. 4 The public record results from the decision of the court can educate the society about the rights and the relevant laws. The public record helps the public to widen their horizons in certain cases, it assists them to be more sensitive towards current laws. CONCLUSION In conclusion, it can be concluded court litigation is pertinent as it plays an important role in the society. A litigation could act as a last resort on a settlement of civil disputes between two parties. Without such instrument, there would be very questionable situations on solving such problems, which would lead to a society astray from a set of effective guidelines on tackling disputes. Based on thorough observation, it can be seen a litigation is effective. This due to the fact that the decision would be binding hence, a final say of the decision which can never be overwritten would avoid the problem to be brought up continuously. In circumstances of the losing party of the case is not satisfied with the decision of the court. The person will be given a fair chance to appeal on the decision, in the higher court to challenge the lower court jurisdiction to uphold their injured rights. In additional to that, the decision of the litigation is a binding in order to avoid any redundant decision when there is a stare decisis, this shall preserve from any inconsistency of settling such problems. The decisions made too will only be made provided with a stronger evidence, thus bluntly of sentencing a decision could not be made easily by the court. Upon referring to the analysis it could be concluded that, despite the disadvantages of the court litigation in general, it is opined that the advantage could absolve the defects. However, by tackling the issues of the disadvantages hence, the system could improve for a betterment of fair and justice according to be serve to the people.