TQ2_T1_Week 3 UCV4612 2023/2024
Short Essay Question
Answer the following in a separate situation
(support your answer with atleast one case law)
1. What is cause of action and how should one say that he has a cause of action?
- Define cause of action
- Government of Malaysia v Lim kiat sing
- Letang v cooper
How is cause of action proved?
- To prove that there is a cause of action, it must be shown that the cause of
action is complete or has matured.
- Cause of action will be complete only if all the facts that are necessary to be
- proved have happened.
Taib B. Awang v Mohamad B. Abdullah & Ors [1983] 2 MLJ 413:
- the plaintiff brought an action in a civil court against the defendants for
maliciously prosecuting him in the Kadi Court. When the plaintiff was
prosecuted in the Kadi Court, he was found guilty and was sentenced to two
weeks. The plaintiff was appealed on the decision of the Kadi Court. Before the
appeal was disposed of, he brought this action in the civil court. The court held
that for the plaintiff to succeed in a claim for malicious prosecution, he must
prove that the proceedings complained of terminated in his favour. Since the
appeal had not been disposed of, his action was held to be premature
- Taib’s case clearly illustrates that to prove a cause of action, all the separate
elements that give rise to the claim must be proven to have happened. To claim
malicious prosecution, one of the important facts that need to be satisfied is,
prosecution ended up in the plaintiff's favour. Failure to establish this fact, the
cause of action is still premature.
2. What happens if there is no cause of action in an action taken by the Plaintiff?
- Abdul azis case
- Government of Malaysia v lim siat kian
What happens when there is no cause of action?
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- The cause of action is a condition precedent to the commencement of an action and every
claim must disclose a cause of action before the court will be able to proceed to adjudicate the
dispute.
- If there is no cause of action, the court may strike out the action and no remedy will be
awarded to the plaintiff. O18 r 19(1)
Exception: COA is not required
- COA is not required when a party claims for declaration (remedy) because there is no
defendant to be sued (the party only to be named in the action)
- The civil action can be commenced as the plaintiff seeks for declaration (declatory
relief)
Teow Chuan & Anor v YAM Tunku Nadzaruddin Ibni Tuanku Jaafar &
Ors:
Plaintiffs' claim is substantially for declaratory reliefs. In my view, it is settled
law that where declaratory reliefs are sought, no cause of action need be
disclosed.
Tan Sri Haji Othman Saat v Mohamed Bin Ismail: Has locus
The Federal Court held, inter alia, that it is not necessary for a plaintiff who seeks relief
by way of declaratory judgment to show that he has a present cause of action, so long as
he is somebody with such an interest in the subject matter of the action as to justify his
seeking relief.
Caxton (Kelang) Sdn Bhd v Susan Joan Labrooy & Anor:
on the question of declaratory order, observed as follows- "P.W. Young in his book on
Declaratory Orders, 2nd Ed., defines a declaratory judgment as one that does not involve
a
cause of action in the usual sense and that six factors must be present before
there can be a declaratory order. These are:
i. There must exist a controversy between the parties.
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ii. The proceedings must involve a "right".
iii. The proceedings must be brought by a person who has a proper or tangible interest in
obtaining the order, which is usually referred to as "standing" or "locus standi".
iv. The controversy must be subject to the court's jurisdiction.
v. The defendant must be a person having a proper or tangible interest in opposing the
plaintiff's claims.
vi. The issue must be ripe, i.e. it must not be of academic interest, hypothetical or one
whose resolution would be of no practical utility
Problem Solving: Answer the following in a separate situation
Question 1
Firdaus bought a house from the Developer on 31 st January 2017. In 2022, he discovered
deep cracks on the wall of his dining and living rooms. A house consultant report was made,
and it was stated that the cracks had occurred in 2019, two years after Firdaus moved in.
Assess the limitation of period for the cause of action.
- S6A Limitation Act
- Eg: damage occurred 2005
- - 2023- discovered
- They do not allow any claim more than 15 years
- Only application negligence case not involving personal injury
- Cannot apply 6A if its more than 15 years
- Latent damage from the date they recover then 3 years
Question 2
Ri Jung Hyuk is a popular singer from Korea. His first visit to Malaysia was during the
Korean Week Festival in Kuala Lumpur in 2021. Since then he regularly visited Malaysia
and at the same time he had a joint business venture with Madex Co. After sometime he
decided to buy a semi-detached house at Damansara Perdana through his friend, Sudin. In
July 2022, he and Sudin decided to go for a holiday in Penang. They took a taxi driven by
Sarip Dol to go to the airport. Unfortunately, the taxi they were travelling in collided with a
motor lorry driven by Ajis from the Ministry of Defence. Ri suffered serious injury while
Sudin died in the accident. Dr. Manisah who treated him advised him to take a long rest and
told him that he may not be able to sing anymore. He was depressed and tried to kill himself
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during the treatment. Fortunately, Dr.Manisah managed to save him and later they got
married. She advised Ri to take legal action.
Explain the above issue.
What could be the cause of action
Counted from the date of discovery
-
The right of civil case under accident case take action against the lorry driver for
compensation during the damage is done.
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