A DUTCH court has dismissed an application by eight Sulu heirs to enforce a US$14.9 billion (RM69.5 billion) arbitration award they won against the Malaysian government, reported Reuters.

A judgment on the court website today said: “The court dismisses the requests of the Filipino nationals” to demand the execution of the arbitration award.

Last year, the Sulu heirs were awarded US$14.9 billion by a Paris arbitration court in a long-running dispute with Malaysia over a colonial-era land deal.

In a bid to enforce the award, they have sought to seize Malaysian government assets in France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Malaysia, which did not participate in the arbitration, maintains the process is illegal and has vowed to fight the seizures. It obtained a stay on the award in France but the ruling remains enforceable overseas under a U.N. treaty on arbitration.

The heirs in September had sought permission from a Dutch court to enforce the award in the Netherlands.

However, Dutch judges sided with Malaysia and said the original agreement did not have a clause that bind parties to arbitration, and the French stay of the award meant the claim is not enforcible in the Netherlands. – June 27, 2023.