The court cannot enforce a treaty not enacted as law by Parliament, confirming jurisdiction and procedural integrity of appointed adjudicators under CIPAA.

Wong Kian Kheong J:

A. Background

[1] In 1978, the Malaysian Government (Government) entered into a "Host Country Agreement" [HCA (1978)] with the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC). AALCC is an international governmental organisation and has changed its name in 2001 to Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO).

[2] The HCA (1978) established the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA).

[3] The HCA (1978) was renewed by the Government and AALCO on 26 March 2013 [HCA (2013)]. On 7 February 2018, a supplementary agreement to HCA (2013) has been concluded by the Government and AALCO.

[4] KLRCA is subsequently named as Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC).

[5] On 21 November 2018, the late Mr Vinayak Prabhakar Pradhan (Mr Pradhan) was appointed by the Government as AIAC's acting Director (Acting Director). The Government subsequently confirmed Mr Pradhan's appointment as AIAC's Director (Director) on 5 May 2019.

(1) by way of AIAC's letter dated 5 August 2019, Mr Loh Charn Yung (Mr Loh) had been appointed to adjudicate an "adjudication claim" (AC) by Quzen Sdn Bhd (Quzen) against Prestij; and

(2) with regard to an AC by PME Power Engineering Sdn Bhd (PME) against Prestij, Dr Wendy Ooi Su Ghee (Dr Ooi) had been appointed in AIAC's letter dated 8 October 2019 to be an adjudicator for PME's AC against Prestij.

[7] The 2 Adjudicators have delivered the following two adjudication decisions (2 AD's):

(1) Mr Loh has adjudicated that Prestij shall pay to Quzen, among others, an adjudicated amount of RM255,261.85 with interest, costs of adjudication, adjudicator's fees and AIAC's fees (Mr Loh's AD); and

(2) a sum of RM214,829.61 together with interest, costs of adjudication, adjudicator's fees and AIAC's fees has been adjudicated by Dr Ooi to be paid by Prestij to PME (Dr Ooi's AD).

[8] By way of a letter dated 20 November 2019 from AALCO, Mr Pradhan's appointment as Acting Director was terminated with effect from 5 May 2019.

B. Proceedings

[9] The following four Originating Summonses (OS) have been filed in this court:

(1) Prestij has initially filed OS No BA-24C-13-02-2020 against Mr Pradhan and Quzen [Prestij's OS (Quzen)];

(2) OS No BA-24C-25-03-2020 has been instituted by Prestij against Mr Pradhan and PME [Prestij's OS (PME)];

(3) Quzen has filed OS No BA-24C-54-06-2020 for leave of court under s 28 CIPAA to enforce Mr Loh's AD against Prestij (Quzen's OS); and

(4) in OS No BA-24C-15-02-2020, PME has applied for leave of court to enforce Dr Ooi's AD against Prestij (PME's OS).

[10] On 8 March 2020, Mr Pradhan passed away. Hence, the personal representative of Mr Pradhan's estate (Mr Pradhan's Representative) was ordered by the court to be a substitute for Mr Pradhan in Prestij's OS (Quzen) and Prestij's OS (PME). I will refer in this judgment to Prestij's OS (Quzen) and Prestij's OS (PME) as "Prestij's 2 OS".

[11] Prestij has obtained leave of court to join the Government as the 3rd defendant in Prestij's 2 OS.

[12] In Prestij's 2 OS, Prestij has prayed for among others, the following orders:

(1) a declaration that Mr Pradhan's appointment as Acting Director has been terminated by AALCO "immediately" on 5 May 2019;

(2) a declaration that Mr Pradhan was not the Acting Director after 5 May 2019;

(3) the 2 AD's shall be set aside; and

(4) a "Fortuna Injunction" should be granted to restrain Quzen from filing and serving a winding-up petition against Prestij based on Mr Loh's AD [Prestij's Fortuna Injunction Application (Quzen)].

[13] Mr Pradhan's Representative has applied in Prestij's 2 OS for the following orders [2 Applications (Mr Pradhan's Representative)]:

(1) a declaration that the court has no jurisd