Trust Law In Malaysia

In order to determine the issue on whether Malaysia treats a trust beneficiary’s rights as in persom or in rem, it is better to understand the historical background and development of the law and proceeded to an understanding of our current Malaysia law. The development of trust law in Malaysia is when before the independence of Malaysia, which our country was at first under the influence of the British and our laws indirectly were influenced by the British colonial. However, Federal Constitution was only being adopted after the independence and matters regulated is divided into 2 lists, which are the Federal List and the State List. Whereas in trust law, List II of the Federal Constitution clearly stated that:

“Except with respect to the Federal

According to Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia, the meaning of the word ‘trust’ can be define as where a person is called as a trustee when he has a property or he has rights which he holds or is bound to exercise for or on behalf of another, or for the accomplishment of some particular purposes, he is said to hold property or rights in trust for the other or those others, or for that purpose or those purposes. A trust is a purely equitable obligation and this trust can be enforce in the High

In other words, he acquires a right to the land as against the vendor personally but not good against the world as a whole and, in due course, that right can become a real right good against the world as a whole on registration in accordance with the Land Code…”

According to Bachan’s, it stated that right in personam should looked together as right in rem as well because there is a valid binding contract for the land and the purcasher.

This can be also reaffirmed in the case of Dusun Desaru Sdn. Bhd. & Anor. v. Wang Ah Yu & Ors , where in this case, His Lordship Abdul Malik Ishak judge explained further on the concept of caveatable interests as follows :

“…it (s. 323 NLC) set out the categories of persons or bodies who may enter private caveats. Precisely put, not every person or body can enter a private caveat; only a person or body having a caveatable interest in the land is entitled to lodge a private caveat. It is a correct statement of the law to state and I so state that a person or body who enters a private caveat must claim title to, or any registrable interest in the land or any right to such title or