French court upholds Malaysia's appeal against partial award in $15 billion claim by former sultan's heirs

The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the Malaysian government's challenge against reinforcing a partial award to the Filipino heirs of a former sultan who won $15 billion in an arbitration over a colonial-era land deal. According to a report by the news agency Reuters on Wednesday (June 7), the government said on Tuesday the court's decision implied the final award would be annulled and the descendants' efforts to seize Malaysian assets would end.

According to Malaysia's Law Minister Azalina Othman Said, "This decision, which is final and binding, is a decisive victory for Malaysia in its ongoing pursuit of legal remedies, which Malaysia is confident will result in comprehensive defeat for the claimants and their funders."

Last year, the heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu won a $14.9-billion award in the court in a dispute over the deal, after a partial award was first issued in May 2020. The Malaysian government said on Tuesday the court found the case arbitrator had wrongly upheld his jurisdiction.

The dispute stems from an 1878 deal

The long-running dispute stems from an 1878 deal between the Sultan of Sulu and European colonists for the use of his territory which spanned islands in the southern Philippines and parts of present-day Malaysia on Borneo island. Reuters reported that the government paid a token sum annually to the heirs to honour the deal but stopped in 2013 when the supporters of the former sultanate launched an incursion to reclaim the land from Malaysia.

The heirs, meanwhile, said they were not involved in the incursion and sought arbitration over the suspension of payments. The Filipino claimants would now consider their options before the French Supreme Court.

The claimants and their lawyers also requested protection from their respective foreign ministries over concerns that there could be further actions against them.

(With inputs from agencies)

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