Kuala lumpur: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said today tabled for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat the International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation Bill 2025. She announced that the second reading of the Bill is scheduled to occur in the upcoming session.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Bill aims to enforce the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, which Malaysia signed on August 7, 2019. The proposed legislation intends to create the necessary legal framework to adhere to the convention’s obligations and facilitate the enforcement of international settlement agreements within Malaysia’s jurisdiction.

This legislative move is expected to foster the use of mediation as a viable method for resolving international commercial disputes. However, the proposed Act will exclude certain international settlement agreements, particularly those resolving disputes from personal, family, or household transactions, those approved by a court, or agreements recorded as judgments or enforceable as arbitral awards.

Clause 4 of the Bill allows a party to an international settlement agreement to apply to the High Court for the agreement to be recorded for enforcement purposes under the proposed Act.