Dato' Lim Chee Wee

On the court record

A senior commercial-and-public-law practice concentrated on arbitration, jurisdictional disputes and judicial review.

Dato' Lim Chee Wee practises in commercial and public-law litigation, appearing across the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) and the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan), and the reported decisions describe a senior disputes practice. Arbitration is prominent: the reported matters engage the Arbitration Act 2005, including the stay of court proceedings in favour of arbitration and the enforcement and setting aside of awards, together with high-value civil disputes and cross-border jurisdictional questions.

A distinctive strand concerns the jurisdiction of the Malaysian courts over international disputes, including a matter engaging whether a party must show that the Malaysian court has jurisdiction and whether the Malaysian court is the appropriate forum. Judicial review ("semakan kehakiman") also features, alongside striking-out applications and civil-procedure questions. Appearing as appellant, plaintiff and defendant, the practice is instructed in substantial commercial and public-law matters that turn on questions of jurisdiction, the interpretation of arbitration agreements, and the governing statute.

The work turns on the construction of commercial and arbitration agreements and on questions of jurisdiction and procedure. In the arbitration matters the argument concerns whether a dispute must be referred to arbitration and how an award is challenged or enforced; in the jurisdictional matters whether the Malaysian court has and should exercise jurisdiction; and in the judicial-review and striking-out matters the lawfulness of a decision or the sustainability of a claim. The reported reasons frequently address the boundary between litigation and arbitration and the reach of the court's jurisdiction.

The overall profile is that of senior counsel handling substantial commercial disputes, arbitration and public-law challenges in the High Court and Court of Appeal. The matters turn on the Arbitration Act, the jurisdiction of the Malaysian courts, and the principles of judicial review, rather than on any criminal dimension, marking a practice concentrated on high-value commercial and jurisdictional disputes.