Malaysia's court hierarchy — which court hears what, and the exact money and sentencing limits

File a RM1.2 million breach-of-contract claim in the Sessions Court and it does not matter how strong your case is. The court has no power to hear it. File the same claim for RM80,000 in the High Court and you will likely be told you are in the wrong building — and pay for the detour.

Malaysia’s court hierarchy is not decorative. Two statutes fix hard numeric boundaries, and the numbers decide where you start, how much a judge can award or sentence, and how far you can appeal.

The five levels in one table

Court	Civil jurisdiction	Criminal jurisdiction	Statute
Magistrates’ Court (Second Class)	Debt or liquidated demand up to RM10,000	Offences with maximum imprisonment of 12 months, or fine only	SCA ss.88, 92
Magistrates’ Court (First Class)	Up to RM100,000	Offences with maximum imprisonment up to 10 years	SCA ss.85, 90
Sessions Court	Up to RM1,000,000; unlimited for motor accidents, landlord and tenant, distress	All offences other than those punishable with death	SCA ss.63, 65
High Court	Unlimited	Includes offences punishable with death; plus appeals and revision from subordinate courts	CJA ss.22, 23, 26–28, 35
Court of Appeal	Appeals from the High Court	Appeals from the High Court	CJA ss.50, 67
Federal Court	Final appeals, with leave	Final criminal appeals	CJA ss.87, 96

SCA = Subordinate Courts Act 1948 (Act 92). CJA = Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (Act 91).

The Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and the two High Courts — the High Court of Malaya and the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak — are the superior courts. The Sessions Court and the Magistrates’ Court are the subordinate courts, and their powers come almost entirely from Act 92.

Magistrates’ Court: the RM100,000 line

A First Class Magistrate may try all civil actions where the amount in dispute or the value of the subject-matter does not exceed one hundred thousand ringgit (s.90).

On the criminal side, section 85 lets a First Class Magistrate try offences whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed ten years, offences punishable with fine only, and offences under sections 392 and 457 of the Penal Code.

Note the gap that catches people out: the power to try is not the power to sentence. Section 87(1) caps a First Class Magistrate at five years’ imprisonment, a fine of ten thousand ringgit, twelve strokes of whipping, or a combination — even where the offence itself carries ten years. Two provisos qualify this, allowing the full statutory punishment where another written law gives a magistrate wider power, and where previous convictions or antecedents justify it, with written reasons.

Second Class Magistrates are rare in practice but still on the books. They may try offences carrying up to twelve months’ imprisonment or fine only (s.88), sentence up to six months’ imprisonment or a RM1,000 fine (s.89), and hear civil claims only for a debt or liquidated demand not exceeding RM10,000 (s.92).

Sessions Court: RM1 million, with three exceptions and one blacklist

Section 65(1) is the provision most often quoted and most often quoted incompletely. It gives the Sessions Court three things:

• unlimited jurisdiction over civil actions concerning motor vehicle accidents, landlord and tenant, and distress
• jurisdiction over all other civil actions where the amount in dispute or value of the subject-matter does not exceed one million ringgit
• jurisdiction over actions for specific performance or rescission of contracts, and cancellation or rectification of instruments, within that limit

A road accident claim worth RM4 million therefore belongs in the Sessions Court, not the High Court. That is the exception nobody remembers.

Section 65(3) adds a consent route: where the only obstacle is value, parties may agree in writing that the Sessions Court shall have jurisdiction, and the court may then try the matter even though the subject-matter exceeds the limit.

Then comes the blacklist. Section 69 removes whole subject areas from the Sessions Court whatever the amount involved — actions relating to immovable property (save as allowed by ss.70 and 71), enforcement of trusts, accounts, declaratory decrees, grants of representation and administration of deceased estates, legitimacy, guardianship or custody of infants, and the validity or dissolution of marriage.

Criminally, the Sessions Court is broad: it may try all offences other than those punishable with death (s.63), and may pass any sentence allowed by law other than death (s.64).

High Court: unlimited, and the appellate floor

The High Court’s civil jurisdiction under CJA s.23 is territorial rather than monetary — it tries civil proceedings where the cause of action arose, the defendant resides or has a place of business, the underlying facts occurred, or disputed land is situated, within its local jurisdiction. The Judiciary describes its original civil jurisdiction as covering disputes exceeding RM1,000,000 plus exclusive areas including divorce and matrimonial matters, admiralty, bankruptcy, company matters, guardianship of minors and disabled persons, and probate.

Company matters landing here is why winding-up and other proceedings under the Companies Act 2016 are High Court work.

The High Court also sits above the subordinate courts in three ways: it hears criminal appeals from them (s.26), civil appeals from them (ss.27–28), and holds general supervisory and revisionary jurisdiction over all subordinate courts (s.35), exercisable of its own motion or at a party’s instance.

There is a floor on civil appeals. Section 28(1) provides that no appeal lies to the High Court from a subordinate court decision where the amount in dispute or value of the subject-matter is ten thousand ringgit or less, except on a question of law. Section 28(2) carves out maintenance of wives or children — those appeals lie regardless of amount.

Court of Appeal and Federal Court: where leave starts to bite

The Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction rests on Article 121(1B) of the Federal Constitution and on Part III of the CJA. Every proceeding is heard by three judges, or a greater uneven number the President determines (s.38(1)).

Civil appeals from any High Court judgment or order, original or appellate, lie to the Court of Appeal (s.67). But s.68(1) blocks four categories: claims whose subject-matter (excluding interest) is less than two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit, except with leave; consent judgments; costs-only orders, except with leave; and orders a written law declares final.

Criminally, s.50(1) gives an appeal from High Court decisions made in its original jurisdiction, and from its appellate or revisionary decisions on criminal matters decided by the Sessions Court. Where the matter was decided by a Magistrates’ Court, s.50(2) requires leave, and the appeal is confined to questions of law that arose in the appeal or revision below — with the leave application due within fourteen days (s.50(2A)).

The Federal Court also sits as three judges, or a greater uneven number set by the Chief Justice (s.74(1)). Its original jurisdiction runs under Article 128(1) and (2) of the Constitution (s.81), covering validity of federal and state laws and disputes between States or between the Federation and a State; it may also answer constitutional questions referred by the High Court (s.84), and give advisory opinions to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Its appellate reach is deliberately narrow. Criminal appeals lie from Court of Appeal decisions on criminal matters decided by the High Court in its original jurisdiction (s.87(1)). Civil appeals lie only with leave of the Federal Court, and only from Court of Appeal judgments on civil matters decided by the High Court in its original jurisdiction involving a question of general principle decided for the first time, or a question of importance on which a Federal Court decision would be to public advantage — or from any decision as to the effect of a constitutional provision (s.96). Leave must be applied for within one month (s.97(1)).

The practical consequence: a case that began in the Sessions Court has, as a rule, no route into the Federal Court on the merits. Its appeal ladder ends at the Court of Appeal.

Common mistakes

Treating RM1 million as an absolute Sessions Court ceiling. Motor accident, landlord-and-tenant and distress claims are unlimited there (s.65(1)(a)).

Assuming value alone decides. A RM60,000 dispute about enforcing a trust cannot go to the Sessions Court at all — s.69 excludes the subject matter, not just the sum.

Splitting a claim to fit. Section 68 prohibits splitting claims or bringing more than one suit on the same cause of action against the same party. Section 67 allows relinquishing part of a claim instead — permanently.

Confusing trial power with sentencing power. A First Class Magistrate can try a ten-year offence but ordinarily sentences no more than five years (ss.85, 87).

Expecting an automatic appeal. Below RM10,000 you need a question of law (CJA s.28(1)); below RM250,000 you need leave of the Court of Appeal (s.68(1)(a)); to reach the Federal Court in a civil matter you always need leave (s.96).

Starting in the wrong forum entirely. Employment disputes under the Employment Act 1955 and consumer claims before the Tribunal for Consumer Claims — established under s.85 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999 — begin outside this hierarchy.

A note on currency of figures

Every figure above is stated as it appears in the Attorney General’s Chambers updated reprint texts: Act 92 as at 1 May 2013, and Act 91 as at 1 August 2014. The AGC legislation portal shows later online reprints for both Acts, and the 2020 amendments to each dealt principally with remote communication technology rather than jurisdictional limits. Before filing, check the current reprint on lom.agc.gov.my — and take advice. Nothing here is legal advice.

What’s next

Read the Federal Constitution page for the constitutional basis of judicial power and the position of the superior courts, then the Companies Act 2016 page for the corporate proceedings that must start in the High Court.