Promissory Estoppel and Its Relevance to Malaysian Contract Law

This article seeks to explore the status of the doctrine of promissory estoppel under Malaysian law. A careful examination of pertinent Malaysian judicial decisions seems to suggest that the Malaysian courts have contentedly adopted and applied the doctrine whenever it was proved necessary. The article considers whether the Malaysian courts are statutorily authorised to apply promissory estoppel in view of s 3 of the Civil Law Act 1956 (Malaysia) which allows reference to the common law and equity only in the absence of any domestic law on the matter. It has been suggested by some that the statutory waiver under s 64 of the Contracts Act 1950 (Malaysia), if interpreted liberally, could cover the scope of promissory estoppel. The article examines the proposed notion and suggests plausible solutions.