Cecil Abraham And Partners

Dispute Resolution

Senior Partner

Tan Sri Dato’ Cecil Abraham is the Senior Partner at Cecil Abraham & Partners. His career at the Malaysian Bar spans over 50 years.

Within that time, he has appeared in all the divisions of the High Court of Malaya. He has appeared regularly before the Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Special Court, and the Privy Council. He has over 300 reported decisions of note to his name. He is first and foremost an advocate and is regarded by his peers and clients alike as one of Malaysia’s leading advocates known to be devastatingly effective in Court. He has a formidable reputation for dealing with complex disputes where the stakes are high and is known to work hard to achieve a satisfactory result for his clients.

Tan Sri Dato’ Cecil Abraham’s practice covers a wide breadth of areas that include Corporate and Commercial, Environmental, Banking and Securities, Insurance, Maritime, and Competition Law as well as Arbitration. He has in recent times argued the leading cases in Malaysia pertaining to the approach courts are to adopt in land acquisition proceedings so as to ensure transparency of the process in Tegas Sejati Sdn Bhd v Pentadbir Tanah dan Daerah Hulu Langat & Anor and another appeal [2024] 4 CLJ 1; the grant of planning permission in Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur v Perbadanan Pengurusan Trellises & Ors and other appeals [2023] 3 MLJ 829; the applicable principles in so far as, the law of qualified privilege and distinction between the defences of responsible journalism and reportage are concerned in Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd & Ors v Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd [2021] 5 MLJ 79; the applicable principles relating to the termination of contracts in Catajaya Sdn Bhd v Shoppoint Sdn Bhd [2021] 2 MLJ 374; the applicable test to applications for review under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 as well as the application of the de-facto doctrine in Yong Tshu Khin & Anor v Dahan Cipta Sdn Bhd & Anor and Other Appeals [2021] 1 MLJ 47; the adjudication of construction claims in Ireka Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd v PWC Corporation Sdn Bhd [2020] 1 CLJ 193; constitutional law issues relating to the proper practice and procedures to be adopted by State Legislative Assemblies in The Speaker of Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak, Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar v Ting Tiong Choon & Ors and other appeals [2020] 2 AMR 313; the validity of introducer agreements within the meaning of Section 24 of the Contracts Act 1950 in Wong Yee Boon v Gainvest Builders Sdn Bhd [2020] 2 CLJ 727; the enforcement and setting-aside of arbitration awards in Far East Holdings Bhd & Anor v Majlis Ugama Islam dan Adat Resam Melayu Pahang and another appeal [2018] 1 MLJ 1; unjust enrichment in Dream Property Sdn Bhd v Atlas Housing Sdn Bhd [2015] 2 MLJ 441; the doctrine of separate legal entities in Gurbachan Singh v Vellasamy s/o Ponnusamy[2015] 1 MLJ 773, the doctrine of equitable fraud in Zung Zang Wood Products Sdn Bhd v Kwan Chee Hang Sdn Bhd & Ors [2014] 2 MLJ 799, the powers of liquidators in Ooi Woon Chee & Anor v Dato’ See Teow Chuan & Ors [2012] 2 MLJ 713; the exercise of royal prerogative powers in Dato’ Seri Ir Hj Mohammad Nizar bin Jamaluddin v Dato’ Seri Dr Zambry bin Abdul Kadir (Attorney General, intervener) [2010] 2 MLJ 285 and His Royal Highness Sultan Ismail Petra Ibni Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra v His Royal Highness Tengku Mahkota Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra & Anor and another suit [2011] 1 MLJ 1, non-delegable duty and vicarious liability in Dr Hari Krishnan & Anor v Megat Noor Ishak bin Megat Ibrahim & Anor and another appeal [2018] 3 MLJ 281, to name but a few.

He holds the distinction of having acted for the former Prime Minister of Singapore, the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, and several Prime Ministers of Malaysia.

He is also regularly appointed as an arbitrator in domestic and international commercial arbitrations and is the only Malaysian to be continually appointed as an arbitrator in investment treaty disputes.

Tan Sri Dato’ Cecil Abraham is recognised as a leading individual by Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asia Law Profiles and is consistently ranked in Tier 1 by Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific as well as Who’s Who Legal (now Lexology Index) in dispute resolution for both litigation and arbitration. He was named Dispute Resolution Practitioner of the Year by Benchmark Litigation in 2019 and 2021, and by Asian Legal Business in 2016 and 2020.

English, Malay and Tamil

Panel of Arbitrators:

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Hong Kong Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) FICCI Arbitration and Conciliation Tribunal (FACT) India Indonesian National Board of Arbitration (BANI) Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA) Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

Current:

Member of the Advisory Council of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)

Past:

Past Vice President of Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group (APRAG), (2006-2009) Past Deputy President of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators Past Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Past Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysia Branch (CIArb) Past President of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) Past Member of the Review Committee of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) Past Vice Chair of Committee D, which was the Arbitration and ADR Section of the International Bar Association Past Member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court representing Malaysia Past Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration Past Member of the ICC Task Force on Financial Institutions Past Member of the Advisory Panel of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC)

Qualifications • LLB. Hons. Queen Mary College, University of London • Fellow (Faculty of Law) Queen Mary College, University of London • Barrister at Law of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple • Bencher of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple • Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya