Azizul Azmi Adnan JCA:

Introduction

[1] Section 42 of the Arbitration Act 2005 conferred upon a party to arbitration proceedings the right to refer to the High Court a question of law arising out of an arbitral award. Section 42 was repealed by the Arbitration (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2018 , which took effect from 8 May 2018. The effect of the repeal meant that questions of law arising from an arbitral award could no longer be referred to the High Court, leaving s 37 as the only means by which an aggrieved party may challenge an arbitral award.

[2] There have been conflicting cases at the High Court on the precise effect of the repeal of s 42. In these grounds of judgment, we explain that a question of law arising out of an arbitral award may only be referred to the High Court if the award had been published prior to 8 May 2018.

The Parties

[3] Luxor Holdings Sdn Bhd and Luxor YRM Sdn Bhd were the employers under construction contracts awarded to SQA Builders Sdn Bhd, a contractor. There were two separate letters of award, one issued by Luxor Holdings Sdn Bhd for the construction of offices on Lot 1 and the other by Luxor YRM Sdn Bhd for Lots 2 and 3, both relating to a deve