1 -1. Short Title.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Bills of Sale Act 1950 .

(2) This Act shall apply to West Malaysia only.

2 -2. Application of Act.

This Act shall apply to every bill of sale, whether the same is absolute or subject or not subject to any trust, whereby the holder or grantee has power, either with or without notice and immediately or at any future time, to seize or take possession of any personal chattels comprised in or made subject to such bill of sale, but shall not, except as in this Act expressly mentioned, apply to any mortgages, charges or debentures issued by any incorporated company and secured upon the stock or goods, chattels and effects of such company.

3 -3. Interpretation.

(1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires:

  "bill of sale"  includes bills of sale, assignments, transfers declarations of trust without transfer, inventories of goods with receipt thereto attached, or receipts for purchase money of goods, and other assurances of personal chattels, and also powers of attorney, authorities or licences to take possession of personal chattels as security for any debt, and also any agreement, whether intended or not to be followed by the execution of any other instrument, by which a right in equity to any personal chattels or to any charge or security thereon is conferred, but does not include the following documents:

(a) assignments for the benefit of the creditors of the person making or giving the same;

(b) ante-nuptial marriage settlements;

(c) transfers or assignments of any ship or vessel or sh

4 -4. Bill of sale to be void under certain circumstances unless attested and registered.

(1) Every bill of sale shall be attested and registered under this Act within seven clear days after the execution thereof, or, if it is executed in any place out of West Malaysia, then within seven clear days after the time at which it would, in the ordinary course of post, arrive in West Malaysia if posted immediately after the execution thereof, and shall truly set forth the consideration for which it was given, otherwise the following consequences shall ensue:

(a) in the case of a bill of sale made or given by way of security for the payment of money by the grantor thereof, such bill of sale shall be void in respect of the personal chattels comprised therein; and

(b) in the case of any other bill of sale it shall, as against all trustees or assignees of the estate of the person whose chattels or any of them are comprised in such bill of sale under the law of bankruptcy or liquidation or under any assig

5 -5. Bill of sale to be accompanied by schedule of property.

(1) Every bill of sale shall have annexed thereto or written thereon a schedule containing an inventory of the personal chattels comprised in the bill of sale, and such bill of sale, save as hereinafter mentioned, shall have effect only in respect of the personal chattels specifically described in such schedule and shall be void in respect of any personal chattels not so specifically described.

(2) Save as hereinafter mentioned, every bill of sale shall be void except as against the grantor in respect of any personal chattels specifically described in the schedule thereto of which the grantor was not the true owner at the time of the execution of the bill of sale.

(3) Nothing in this section shall render a bill of sale void in respect of any of the following things:

(a) any growing crops separately assigned or charged where such crops were actually growing at the time when the bill of sale was executed;

6 -6. Bill of sale given by way of security void in certain cases.

Subject and without prejudice to the other provisions of this Act for invalidating bills of sale, every bill of sale made or given by way of security for the payment of money by the grantor thereof shall be void in the following cases:

(a) if the amount the payment of which is thereby secured is less than one hundred ringgit; or

(b) if it is not made in the form in the First Schedule.

7 -7. Bill of sale not to protect chattels against rates.

A bill of sale made or given by way of security for the payment of money by the grantor thereof shall be no protection against a distress for the recovery of rent or municipal or town board rates or assessments.

8 -8. Possession to be taken under bill of sale under certain circumstances only.

(1) Personal chattels included in a bill of sale made or given by way of security for the payment of money by the grantor thereof shall not be liable to be seized or taken possession of by the grantee for any other than the following causes:

(a) if the grantor makes default in payment of the sum or sums of money thereby secured at the time therein provided for payment or in the performance of any covenant or agreement contained in the bill of sale and necessary for maintaining the security;

(b) if the grantor becomes a bankrupt or suffers the said chattels or any of them to be distrained for rent, or municipal or town board rates or assessments or otherwise;

(c) if the grantor fraudulently either removes or suffers to be removed from the premises the said chattels or any of them;

(d) if the grantor does not without reasonable excuse upon demand in writing by the grantee pr

9 -9. Sales by public auction.

(1) No sale by the grantee of any chattels so seized or taken possession of as aforesaid shall be made otherwise than by public auction, conducted by some person duly licensed under any statutory provision in West Malaysia for the licensing of auctioneers.

(2) Any sale made in contravention of this section shall be absolutely void, and any person aiding or abetting such sale shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit.

(3) Not more than one year's arrear of interest shall be recoverable under any bill of sale made or given after the commencement of this Act.

10 -10. Mode of registering bills of sale.

(1) A bill of sale shall be attested and registered under this Act as in this section provided.

(2) The execution by the grantor of every bill of sale shall be attested:

(a) by an advocate and solicitor of the High Court not being the advocate and solicitor of the grantee; or

(b) by a Magistrate or by a Registrar or Assistant Registrar of the High Court; or

(c) by a commissioner for oaths or a notary public,

who shall personally explain to the grantor the effect thereof, and the attestation shall state that before the execution of the bill of sale the effect thereof was so explained as aforesaid.

(3) Such bill, with every schedule or inventory thereto annexed, and also a true copy of such bill and of every such schedule or inventory and of every attestation of the execution of such bill, together with a statutory declaration of the time when such bill

11 -11. Priority given by Registration.

In case two or more bills of sale are given comprising in whole or in part any of the same chattels, they shall have priority in the order of the date of their registration respectively as regards such chattels.

12 -12. Transfers need not be attested.

A transfer or assignment of a registered bill of sale need not be attested under this Act, but the transferee or assignee of such bill of sale must, within seven clear days after the execution of such transfer or assignment, file with the Registrar or Assistant Registrar, as the case may be, a statutory declaration, in the form in the Third Schedule, stating the date of the bill of sale and of the last registration thereof, the names, residences and occupations of the parties thereto as stated therein, the names, residences and occupations of the parties to each transfer or assignment, and that such bill of sale is still a subsisting security, and shall also produce at the same time to the Registrar or Assistant Registrar, as the case may be, such transfer or assignment; otherwise such transfer or assignment shall be void.

13 -13. Renewal of registration.

(1) The registration of a bill of sale must be renewed once at least every twelve calendar months, and if a period of twelve calendar months elapses from the registration or renewed registration of a bill of sale without a renewal or further renewal, as the case may be, the registration shall become void.

(2) The renewal of a registration shall be effected by filing with the Registrar or Assistant Registrar, as the case may be, a statutory declaration in the form in the Fourth Schedule, stating the date of the bill of sale and of the last registration thereof and the names, residences and occupations of the parties thereto as stated therein, and that the bill of sale is still a subsisting security.

14 -14. Form of register.

(1) The Registrar and every Assistant Registrar shall keep a register of bills of sale, and shall, upon the filing of any copy of a bill of sale, enter in such register, in the form set out in the Fifth Schedule or in such other form as may be prescribed, the name, residence and occupation of the grantor, or, in case the same is made or given by any person under or in execution of any process, then the name, residence and occupation of the person against whom such process was issued, and also the name of the person or persons to whom or in whose favour the bill is given, together with such other particulars as are shown in such Schedule or as may be prescribed, and shall number all such bills registered in each year consecutively according to the respective dates of their registration.

(2) Upon the registration of any declaration of renewal, the like entry shall be made, with the addition of the date and number of the last previous entry relati

15 -15. Rectification of register.

(1) Any Judge of the High Court, on being satisfied that the omission to register a bill of sale or a declaration of renewal or transfer or assignment thereof within the time prescribed, or the omission or mis-statement of the name, residence or occupation of any person, was accidental or due to inadvertence or to absence from West Malaysia, may, in his discretion, order such omission or mis-statement to be rectified by the insertion in the register of the true name, residence or occupation, or by extending the time for such registration on such terms and conditions, if any, as to security, notice by advertisement or otherwise, or as to any other matter, as he thinks fit.

(2) An application for the rectification of a register under this section shall be made in Chambers.

16 -16. Entry and satisfaction.

(1) Where the amount, the payment of which is secured by a registered bill of sale, exceeds one thousand ringgit a Judge of the High Court, or, in any other case, a Judge of a Sessions Court having jurisdiction over the district in which such bill of sale is registered may order a memorandum of satisfaction to be written on any registered copy of a bill of sale upon being satisfied that the debt, if any, for which such bill was made or given has been satisfied or discharged.

(2) The Registrar or Assistant Registrar may write a memorandum of satisfaction upon any registered copy of a bill of sale on a consent to the satisfaction signed by the person entitled to the benefit of the bill of sale and verified by affidavit being presented to and filed with him, and on the original bill of sale being also produced to him.

17 -17. Inspection of register and office copies.

(1) Any person shall be entitled to have an office copy of or extract from any registered bill of sale and declaration of execution filed therewith, or registered declaration of renewal, upon paying for the same at the rate of twenty-five sen for every folio of one hundred words or at such other rate as may be prescribed, and every such copy shall be prima facie evidence of the original and of the fact and date of registration as shown thereon.

(2) Any person shall be entitled at all reasonable times and subject to such rules as may be prescribed:

(a) to search the register on payment of a fee of one ringgit or such other fee as may be prescribed;

(b) on a like payment in respect of each bill of sale inspected, to inspect, examine and make extracts from any registered bill of sale:

Provided that such extracts shall be limited to the dates of execution, registration, renewal of regi

18 -18. Particulars to be forwarded for record in Kuala Lumpur.

(1) Every Assistant Registrar shall, forthwith after making any entry in his register under this Act, transmit to the Registrar at Kuala Lumpur a verified copy of such entry.

(2) The Registrar shall keep at Kuala Lumpur a register of all particulars transmitted to him under subsection (1), and any person may, during the usual office hours and upon payment of a fee of one ringgit or such other fee as may be prescribed, search such register and take a copy of any particulars recorded therein.

19 -19. Declarations.

(1) Every declaration required by or for the purposes of this Act may be made before any Registrar or Assistant Registrar or before any commissioner for oaths or before a notary public.

(2) Every such declaration shall be deemed to be a declaration within the meanings of section 199 and section 200 of the Penal Code.

20 -20. Assistant Registrars.

(1) All First Class Magistrates, other than Magistrates constituted as such under section 77 of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948, shall be deemed to be ex officio Assistant Registrars of the High Court for the purpose of registering bills of sale.

(2) If the Chief Justice is satisfied that in any district there is no First Class Magistrate other than a First Class Magistrate constituted as such under section 77 of the Subordinate Courts Act 1948, readily available for the purpose of registering bills of sale, then, for every such district, the Chief Justice may, by notification in the Gazette , appoint a First Class Magistrate constituted as such under such section 77 to be an Assistant Registrar of the High Court for the purpose of registering bills of sale in such district.

21 -21. Fees.

A filing fee of one ringgit or such other fee as may be prescribed shall be payable in every case of registration, renewal of registration, or transfer of a bill of sale.

22 -22. Rules.

The Rules Committee established by the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, may from time to time make rules in respect of all or any of the following matters:

(a) the form of registers of bills of sale and the mode in which the same shall be made and kept;

(b) the mode in which registration is to be conducted;

(c) the making of entries in the register of the satisfaction or discharge of the debt secured by a registered bill of sale;

(d) the forms of declarations and other instruments to be used for the purposes of this Act;

(e) the fees to be taken;

(f) generally for carrying into effect the objects of this Act.

23 -23. Repeal and saving.

(1) The Ordinance and Enactments set out in the Sixth Schedule are hereby repealed:

Provided that such repeal shall not affect any bill of sale executed before the commencement of this Act, and, as regards any bill of sale so executed, the Ordinance or Enactment applicable to such bill of sale shall be deemed to continue in force.

(2) Any renewal after the commencement of this Act of the registration of a bill of sale executed before such commencement, and registered under any Ordinance or Enactment repealed by this Act, shall be made under this Act in the same manner as the renewal of a registration made under this Act.